- Monsoons decimate SL’s home ties
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Ashley de Silva said Sri Lanka had filled in as a joint partner to India in co-hosting the ongoing ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup.
He affirmed that it is an event which had been designated to be hosted by their South Asian neighbours through and through.
He made this remark when pressed for his views on the marquee white-ball competition being held in the current monsoon period.
The unforgiving weather pattern in the South Asian nation has decimated the majority of the ties played at Colombo’s R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium (RPICS), in the process scuppering the home team’s chances as well.
“We were not destined to be the co-host,” de Silva, told The Daily Morning Sports. “We were invited by India to be joint partners in the capacity of a co-host and it was their (India) decision to stage it during this particular window.”
The SLC CEO explained that the sport’s local governing body had no hand in deciding the timing of the 50-over World Cup tournament for 2025 and asserted that it was totally done by the main host of the event.
He stated that the island-nation had only supported India’s invitation to host a few of the games in Colombo, but refused to be drawn on whether it materialised due to their neighbours’ prevalent and yet simmering political tensions with Pakistan.
At the time of writing five of the 9 matches staged in the Sri Lanka capital have been totally ruined by rain-with four of those ending in no result-which even prompted English spinner Alex Hartley to say the conditions had ‘marred’ the showpiece tournament.
October is monsoon season on the island, with 300-370mm of showers anticipated during the month, but CEO de Silva insisted that there have been occasions in the recent past where internationals had been worked off successfully even during the said period.
“I don’t really know what anybody was expecting to be completely honest. You have a tournament in Sri Lanka during monsoon season. It pretty much rains at the same time every single day,” Hartley, who won the tournament eight years ago, was quoted as saying by the BBC. ‘It’s ruined this World Cup-it’s been a real shame.’
All bar two of Sri Lanka’s group games are being staged at the venue formerly called the Khettarama Stadium, as are all of Pakistan’s matches due to ongoing political animosity with India, who are the major hosts of the event.
A combination of inclement weather, brittle batting and shoddy fielding had threatened to unravel Sri Lanka’s bid for a global title in their own backyard-with the event likely to be the last hurrah for their skipper and batting lynchpin Chamari Athapaththu.
This was before they managed to eke out a narrow victory over Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai on Monday (20), to yet entertain hope for a place in the last four.
The last match in the tournament for the Rumesh Ratnayake-coached outfit will be against Pakistan on Friday (24).
However, they find themselves in a must-win situation while battling the elements for a single semifinal spot alongside New Zealand and India, with title-holders Australia, South Africa and England, having already advanced to the semis in the 8-team competition.
New Zealand have also seen their past two games in Colombo washed out, and the reigning T20 world champions could also sit out the qualification places for the knockout stages.
“It’s extremely frustrating, let’s be honest. You wait for four years for a World Cup and to have to suffer through the rain,” Kiwi captain Sophie Devine, who at 35 is set to be playing in her last 50-over World Cup told the ICC website.
“I hope in future editions they think of playing earlier in the day. We have seen the rain come in the evening, so play at 10 or 11. For the game to be scuttled by rain is indeed a real shame for me.”