da aviator aposta： India’s last chance of meaningful match practice before the first Test inGalle was scuppered today when the P
Charlie Austin10-Aug-2001India’s last chance of meaningful match practice before the first Test inGalle was scuppered today when the P. Saravanamuttu pitch was deemed unfitfor play and the umpires were forced to abandon their three-day game againsta Sri Lankan Board XI.Play started on time, but after the first over, a maiden bowled by DinushaFernando, it immediately became clear that pitch would misbehave even morethan on the two previous days, when players on both sides had been rapped onthe gloves. Sourav Ganguly immediately declared the Indian first innings.The Board XI though were not overly keen on risking the health of theirplayers either – six of whom are in the 16-man squad for the Galle Teststarting on Tuesday. A 15-minute discussion between coaches, captains andumpires ensued.Indian coach John Wright wanted more middle practice for his team and theSri Lankan coach was not averse to playing if the safety of the playerscould be assured. The umpires thus took the unusual decision to order therepair the pitch on the basis of “good faith.”The ground staff got to work. The offending patches were filled with clay,the pitch was watered and cut grass was rolled into the wicket. Strictlyspeaking the watering and rolling was illegal, but the umpires decision toallow it was rooted in common sense and within the spirit of the game.Unfortunately, after four hours of hard labouring the pitch was still deemedunfit for play and the game was called of. The only chance of play was ifboth sides agreed to play only at one end, which had in fact been suggestedyesterday by India, but rejected by the home side. In the end the Indianteam practiced afterwards at the “safe” end.Ironically, the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium was traditionally famous for havingthe best pitch in Sri Lanka, full of pace and true in bounce. It staged SriLanka’s inaugural Test, but was eventually sidelined as the facilities fellbehind those at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Premadasa InternationalStadium. Now, after the period of re-development, the facilities areacceptable, but the pitch is not.Successful matches have been played at the ground this year against Englandand Paksitan A, but this incident may delay the return of Test cricket tothe Tamil Union club. They had hoped to stage the Asian Test Championshipgame against Bangladesh later this year, but the ICC are now unlikely tolook favourably on such a plan.Sourav Ganguly was diplomatic afterwards: “It’s little bit disappointing,but we had a day to bowl and day to bat and that’s better than nothing. Igot a good knock and so did the openers, but it would have been nice if themiddle order had got going as well.”He brushed aside suggestions that the Indian would be going into the firstTest under prepared: “Yes we’ve had just one practice game, but theconditions are pretty much similar to back at home so there shouldn’t be aproblem.”The Indian team now travels down to Galle tomorrow. Sri Lanka take a breakon Saturday and travel south on Sunday.