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| Tuesday, 28 December 2004 |
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ICC accord will not allow cancellations : Cricket tour to continue despite disaster by Sa'adi Thawfeeq Sri Lanka will continue with their cricket tour of New Zealand despite the country suffering its worst natural disaster on Sunday. There was great concern among the national players when they heard about the devastation in the country caused by the Tsunami tidal waves along the coastal belt which left thousands dead and millions homeless. Sri Lanka team manager Brendon Kuruppu was quoted by agencies from Auckland where Sri Lanka lost the first one-day international to New Zealand that his team may consider pulling out of the rest of the tour due to the catastrophe. However at an Emergency meeting of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) held at the Cricket Board headquarters yesterday, a unanimous decision was taken to continue with the tour as there was no provision in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Future Tours Program Agreement to abandon a tour unless there is safety and security concerns or where a country's government provided clear direction not to tour. Failure to adhere to this condition could result in a country being penalized a minimum of US$2 million and possible suspension from international cricket. Family concern "There is no way we could have cancelled the tour," said SLC president Mohan de Silva. "We express our profound sorrow and deepest sympathies to all those families and individuals affected by the Tsunami." Two Sri Lanka cricketers who were affected by the disaster were captain Marvan Atapattu and former captain Sanath Jayasuriya. Atapattu's father had traveled to Kataragama at the time the devastation occurred and Marvan was deeply concerned for his safety. Mohan de Silva confirmed yesterday that Atapattu Snr was safe and that he had been able to get in touch with his family by cell phone. He said arrangements were being made to get him out of Kataragama. Meanwhile Jayasuriya's mother who lives in Matara had been injured in the earthquake, but according to De Silva she is said to be out of danger. However the mother of a leading cricketer from Galle CC was one of the victims who failed to survive the devastation. De Silva said that the SLC on behalf of its membership and the cricketers being aware of its social responsibilities and affect upon the community arising out of the disaster had taken the following decision at its Emergency meeting yesterday: * To assist through the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in executing their program of relief and rehabilitation work; * To maintain a special camp to alleviate the hardship caused to such families due to the above; * A special task force cum sub committee headed by immediate past president Thilanga Sumathipala has been appointed for this purpose and to take immediate steps towards its implementation; * Has decided to reschedule all cricket matches including domestic cricket outside the mourning period of five days in Sri Lanka; and * To reach an agreement with New Zealand Cricket to reschedule the rest of the one-day internationals and Test matches. The revised new dates and venues will be notified later. De Silva said that the second one-day international scheduled for tomorrow (December 29) has been postponed to January 11. Under 19 tour postponed SLC said that Sri Lanka's under 19 cricket tour to Pakistan had been postponed by a few days until the period of mourning is over. The team was scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Wednesday and play in a series of two tests and three one-day limited over matches. The itinerary will be rescheduled. Galle Stadium devastated SLC president Mohan de Silva said that the Galle International Cricket Stadium had been totally devastated by the earthquake. "The damage to the stadium and the indoor net is extensive. We have not got a proper estimate of the damage and the losses," he said. De Silva said that the SLC executive committee had appointed a target force headed by Lawrence Amerasena and comprising Nuski Mohamed, Lucian Merrinege and Tyronne de Silva to investigate and report the extent of the damage and the cost that will be involved to restore the stadium to its former status. |
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