• ICC, USA Cricket’s double standards to the fore   

The logistics and scheduling woes faced by the Sri Lankan team at the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United States does not appear to be abating, The Sunday Morning Sports reliably learns.

One of the players in the Sri Lankan squad, spinner Maheesh Theekshana has already voiced his deep concerns on behalf of his team on this issue, yet matters continue to fester with no end in sight for their travails during the showpiece.

One of the major issues highlighted has been the haphazard scheduling of matches at venues in the group stage, which seems to have affected a few teams, with Sri Lanka being noticeable among them.

It has already been mentioned that while a privileged few have had the benefit of playing the majority of their matches at one single venue, the rest including Sri Lanka have been given four different grounds for their four group games. Whether this has been done intentionally to derail the majority of teams at the expense of those in the good books of the ICC and USA Cricket, only the latter two will know.

However, one thing is clear and it is that although this is a World Cup, the playing field for each of the 20 participants has been unequal, to say the least.

Another hot button issue has been the substandard nature of decks rolled out by the ICC and USA Cricket, especially the drop-in pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

On Monday (3), Sri Lanka were shot out by South Africa for 77 – their lowest score in T20s – while India dismissed Ireland for 96 on Wednesday (5) at this venue.

There has been strong discontent regarding the pitch after Monday’s opening match in which South Africa were able to romp to their victory target against Sri Lanka with 22 deliveries remaining.

Meanwhile India had 46 balls to spare when they struck the winning runs in another low-scoring match against Ireland.

The ICC, in a media release on Friday (7), recognised that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium had not played as consistently as “we would have all wanted”.

“The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday’s game to remedy the situation and deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches,” the world body added in its short statement. However, it has unsurprisingly thus far failed to acknowledge the shoddy treatment meted out  in terms of logistics and scheduling to teams such as Sri Lanka. 

Hence there could be a ‘real’ hollow ring to the credentials of the country that may prevail at the end of the World Cup skirmishes late this month.

Changing base

Among the teams vying for the World Cup, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Scotland, and Bangladesh have been compelled to change base four times from the commencement of the tournament.

These teams have been treated in this shabby manner while the ICC and USA Cricket have arranged for teams such as India – the sport’s financial kingpin, South Africa, New Zealand, and England to change base only once.

That in itself shows the double standards of the game’s world governing body and its tournament co-host and it is no wonder that such tactics may have had a debilitating effect on performances of teams such as Sri Lanka.

It has to be said that as professionals playing a professional sport, one needs to take the good, the bad, and the ugly that comes one’s way in equal measure and still perform at optimum level without trotting out excuses, however valid they may be.

By the same token, it is also no secret that the issues pertaining to logistics and scheduling could impact player performances, as not all are made of sterner stuff.

Sajith and Harin toe the same line 

The travel and scheduling issues faced by the Sri Lankan team was also one of the topics discussed in Parliament between Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Sports Minister Harin Fernando on Friday (7).

The SJB Leader was of the view that the ICC and USA Cricket had adopted double standards when providing facilities to competing teams. He urged the subject Minister to raise the issue of the travails faced by the team with the sport’s world controlling body.

Minister Fernando, responding to Premadasa, said that the ICC had justified moving the Under 19 World Cup away from Sri Lanka while it had been suspended early this year. He said that a few months later, the ICC had somehow deemed it apt to stage the ongoing T20 World Cup in America, when USA Cricket was currently suspended by the Dubai-based body.

He also questioned the wisdom of the ICC in using a drop-in pitch for the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, where Sri Lanka lost embarrassingly to South Africa in their opener on Monday (3), if it was to be replaced by 14 June. 

The Minister, who acknowledged the difficulties encountered by the team, said that he had instructed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to investigate as to why an officer sent three weeks ahead of the commencement of the tournament to look into logistics and travel details had failed to apprise either the SLC or his ministry on the matter.