SLC concerned over British government travel warning

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has expressed grave concern over future cricket tours to this country following the British government’s decision to warn its nationals to avoid traveling to Sri Lanka following the recent air raids to Colombo by the militant rebel group LTTE.
SLC secretary K. Mathivanan told The Nation that with the England cricket team due later this year the grave situation in the country at present was not encouraging.
England are due to make a tour of Sri Lanka in two legs – first for a series of five one-day internationals from October 1 to 13 where they play in Dambulla (3 matches) and at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo (2 matches). The second leg is from December 1 to 22 for a series of three Tests scheduled for Galle, SSC in Colombo and Kandy.
“If the tour fails to materialise SLC stands to lose five million US dollars as television rights from Ten Sports,” said Mathivanan.
England last toured Sri Lanka in 2003-04 under Michael Vaughan and lost the Test and One-day series by 1-0 margins.
Last year South Africa pulled out of the Unitech Cup one-day triangular series that also featured India sighting security concerns following a bomb blast in Colombo, a move which was criticized by Sri Lanka Cricket because the security assessment was made by a Dubai-based firm.
By that pull-out Sri Lanka Cricket lost 11 million US dollars from Ten Sports. South Africa has since then failed to agree to a future date to reschedule the series which has resulted in SLC taking up the case with the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Dispute Resolution Committee from whom they are seeking compensation.
Since last May, Sri Lanka had no cricket tours to this country because the team was away on tours to England, India, New Zealand and the West Indies.
International cricket is due to return to Sri Lanka in June this year with Bangladesh schedule to make a tour for a series of three Tests and three one-day internationals.
Bangladesh has seven of their eight matches on tour scheduled to be played in Colombo.
The tour itinerary released by SLC is: June 17: Arrival; June 20-22: warm-up game in Colombo, June 25-29: 1st Test at Colombo (provisionally Sara Stadium), July 3-7: 2nd Test at Kandy, July 12-15: 3rd Test at Colombo (provisionally SSC), July 18: one-day warm-up match in Colombo, July 20: 1st ODI at Colombo, July 22: 2nd ODI at Colombo, July 24: 3rd ODI at Colombo, July 26: Departure.

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India captain Rahul Dravid in injury scare

KOLKATA, (AFP) - Indian captain Rahul Dravid suffered an injury scare here on Saturday, two days before the team’s departure for a 23-day tour of Bangladesh.
Dravid was hit on the nose by a bouncer from left-arm paceman Rudra Pratap Singh during practice but an X-ray ruled out a fracture.
The team’s administrative manager Surendra Bhave said Dravid’s injury was not serious and that he should recover in the next 48 hours.
“The ball hit the visor of Dravid’s helmet. He suffered a nose trauma. It is not serious,” he told reporters.
“The X-ray showed bruises and he has been advised 24-hour rest. He should be back in action in the next 48 hours,” he added.
The Indian team are slated to leave on Monday for neighbouring Bangladesh for their tour which includes three one-dayers and two Tests. The first one-dayer is on May 10.
India were hit by another injury scare on Wednesday when star batsman Sachin Tendulkar suffered a right ankle sprain.
Tendulkar has since recovered and has been seen taking part in net practice.
India’s tour of Bangladesh has assumed significance after Dravid’s men lost to the minnows in the recent World Cup, a defeat which eventually led to the team’s early ouster from the premier competition.

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Barbados taxpayers foot bill for finale

Closing ceremony cost US$750,000

The closing ceremony of the World Cup cost taxpayers in Barbados more than US$750,000.
Investigations by the Midweek Nation have revealed that the fee charged by artistic director Peter Minshall of Trinidad and Tobago was US$500,000, covering pan players, carnival puppets, Moko jumbies, Bele dancers and field performers. The majority of this sum, as indicated by documentation obtained through Minshall’s business entity, The Callaloo Company, went toward performers and crew (US$200,000) and puppet manufacture (US$75,000). The breakdown of the costs also included large sums for auditions, training, costume manufacture and shipping crates.
The cultural presentation, which lasted about 45 minutes, was seen by television audiences for fewer than 15 minutes. Additionally, because of the late start, the extravaganza was viewed by fans at Kensington Oval in relative darkness.
The cost attached to the cultural presentation has sparked controversy, with many questioning whether top Barbadian artistic directors and production experts had been considered for this stage of the country’s biggest ever international event.
Further investigations by the Midweek Nation have also revealed that local organisers entered into an arrangement with a Miami-based company called ACT Productions Inc., located at 1688 Meridian Avenue, Suite 400, Miami Beach, Florida, to look after the technical side of the presentation.
In correspondence sent to Dr Allyson Leacock, consultant executive producer for Saturday’s cultural finale, ACT Production Inc’s management producer Bruce Orosz settled on a fee of US$270,204, with a requirement that local authorities deposited US$202,653 up front.
Among the areas for which the charges applied were pre-production (site inspection and show-planning), provision of lighting system, band location lighting package, production crew, television lighting engineering, air travel, insurance and legal fees. The highest individual quotation of US$79 300 went toward the lighting system.
The Midweek Nation has also discovered that prior to the reopening of Kensington Oval, a foreign company got the contract in September 2006 to provide cleaning services at the Fontabelle, St Michael facility. Cleanevent International Pty Ltd., based in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was paid BDS$18 700 by the Barbados LOC, World Cup Barbados Inc., via wire transfer to the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Limited. Sources indicated that company then sub-contracted local entities to do the work at the Oval under the direction of its representative, Paul “Digga” Barrett.
This sort of arrangement, it has been revealed, was repeated at other stadia across the region where countries were divided into “precincts” under the management of other Cleanevent representatives.
Efforts over the past two days to contact Leacock for comment on the logistics of the cultural presentation proved futile. Yesterday chief executive officer of World Cup Barbados Inc., Stephen Alleyne, declined immediate comment, indicating that a media conference would be held to deal with issues related to the tournament. © The Nation

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‘The biggest con job’

Here is a collection of the best quotes that came out of a World Cup that will be remembered for most of the wrong reasons, and the occasional good piece of cricket
Winning
There were few highlights of the tournament - and even though Australia played exceptionally well that was often the problem, as they crushed all in their wake.
“We played unbelievable cricket in this World Cup. We didn’t have a close game at all in the competition and that’s all credit to the guys.”
Ricky Ponting, Australia’s captain, sums things up.
“The chicken dance came out of when I am out on the dance floor, the guys say I look like a chicken so that’s just a celebratory dance I’ve given to the guys.”
Ireland brought some much-needed fun to the tournament - as their captain Trent Johnston showed - as well as some respectability for the Associates.
“Definitely no one will be going for autographs any more.”
Bangladesh began to shrug off the minnows tag, as their captain Habibul Bashar revealed. When they first toured Australia in 2003, they were star struck; no longer - their scalps included India, South Africa and New Zealand.
Losing
The World Cup was definitely more about losing - be it the squads, hosts, fans... Here we concentrate on the teams:
“If you were writing a fairytale, you wouldn’t write it this way.”
Rahul Dravid gives advice to would-be authors after India’s early exit went against the script.
“The team that had bored and bungled their way around the Caribbean, baldly letting down their thousands of travelling fans, slipped in unheralded and largely unnoticed.”
The Mirror newspaper welcomes back England’s side under the headline “Prats of the Caribbean”. England won just one match against a Test team, and made the Fredlines with their drinking 48 hours before a game.
“There has been a lot of talk about the so-called minnows devaluing the tournament. It is a charge that could now be justifiably made against the West Indies, once the kings of the game and champions of the first two tournaments.”
Tony Cozier reflects on the crisis engulfing West Indies, both on and off the pitch.
“Before the game we said ‘Let’s make history today.’ Well, we made history.”
Dutch captain Luuk van Troost on Herschelle Gibbs’s six sixes against them. Netherlands underperformed, as did Canada whose captain John Davison made the observation - refreshing in this age of media platitudes that - their displays were at time “village and embarrassing”.
“I definitely don’t think we choked. We just weren’t good enough.”
South Africa had a mixed bag of a tournament and in the end they were crushed by Australia - but Graeme Smith was keen to stress one thing.
“I always read in the international press where they say I am under pressure ... but my contract doesn’t say that I have to win matches, it says as long as I am competitive, then my employers are happy.”
Eight teams will now have new coaches but Zimbabwe’s Kevin Curran knows his position is secure, despite his side winning only one of their last 19 ODIs and failing to win any of their World Cup matches.
Bob Woolmer
The murder of Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer overshadowed everything else
“I am shocked and badly hurt. We have lost a good coach and a good person.”
Pakistan’s captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on the loss of Bob Woolmer
“The interminable World Cup continues and the words ‘police’ and ‘investigation’ seem to be poles apart. Meanwhile, the game’s governing body has all become Trappist monks. Don’t mention the war and we might get away with it.”
The broadcaster John Inverdale on the low-key nature of progress in the investigation.
Retirements
It was time to say goodbye to many luminaries
“At the very end, a man who throughout his career had done so much to mask the deficiencies of his team had been undone by the foible of a team-mate. It was sad, but it was apt.”
The Observer’s Will Buckley on Brian Lara’s final innings in Barbados, when he was run out for 18.
“It’s a personal decision and in no way did I want it to interfere with our preparations. I was very clear on what I wanted to do.”
New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming on his resignation from one-dayers after leading the side to the semi-finals.
“It’s been a long career and I have loved every minute of it.”
Glenn McGrath bowed out on a high, with the winner’s medal and the Man of the Tournament
“Thanks for the dry humour at the pressers; the calm; the slip catches; the running and, of course, the batting.”
Cricinfo’s Osman Samiuddin says goodbye and thank you to Inzamam-ul-Haq
Organisation ...or lack of
The quotes speak for themselves
“Malcolm has been living in Dubai for too long. As I’ve said before, they’ve got a hotel under the sea there and a ski resort in the desert. It’s too far away from reality.”
Ian Chappell lashes out at Malcolm Speed for turning a blind eye on some obvious issues about hosting the World Cup in the West Indies
“We had to rely on the advice of the local organising committee to establish the prices of the tickets. It is, in retrospect, a little too rich for the local palate.”
Malcolm Speed washes the ICC’s hands of responsibility for empty stands throughout the World Cup. Others weren’t so convinced.
“This has been a World Cup for the organisers, the visitors and the players but certainly not for the people. That’s why the stadiums are empty and that in itself is a con job. It’s the biggest con job ever passed off in this region.”
Jack Warner, the head of the Caribbean’s footballing fraternity, takes a swipe at the World Cup
“I thought Aleem was having a bit of a joke with us when he said it looks like we’d have to come back tomorrow and play three overs. I said: ‘Mate, we’ve played the 20 overs, we’ve actually finished the game.’”
Ricky Ponting on the final’s farcical finish that just about summed up the tournament.

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Bowlers dominate county rankings

Steve Harmison’s strong start to the county season has been reflected by his top position in the new Professional Cricketers Association rankings.
The PCA has devised a complex system to rate all county cricketers, and appears to reward bowlers more than batsmen.
Bowlers fill the top 11 spots, with the first batsman, Richard Montgomerie of Sussex, appearing in 12th position.
PCA director Jason Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: “There are valid reasons. You need 20 wickets to win a match.”
Somerset skipper Justin Langer is 15th despite hitting 315 in a Championship match against Middlesex.
But he scored fewer points than he might have done because his team did not win the match, because he failed to score 40% of his team’s runs, and it was played in Division Two.
Harmison took eight wickets in a Division One win over Worcestershire and seven of the 11 wickets taken by his team in their loss to Yorkshire.
He has also contributed with the bat, and gained more points for an economical spell in a one-day victory over Leicestershire.
The rankings, which will identify the Most Valuable Player (MVP) across all domestic competitions, is a cumulative points system that rewards every run scored, wicket taken and catch held.
Unlike any other statistical tool, it also gives credit for captaincy and to winning teams.
Harmison is followed in the list by two Pakistani leg-spinners, Danish Kaneria and Mushtaq Ahmed, with Peter Trego and Adil Rashid making up the top five.
The system, which will provide a contrast to traditional averages, also awards bonuses to batsmen who score at a fast rate and bowlers who take top-order wickets rather than tail-enders.
Ratcliffe said: “We need to see how the season pans out but we ran the system on last year’s statistics and the top-rated batsman was Darren Lehmann, who finished seventh.
“How valuable are bowlers? People have often argued that a 100 is the equivalent of five wickets but people who play the game don’t always say that’s the case.
“Five wickets is the same as getting half a team out; what does a batsman have to do to match that?
“People will argue about the list but we hope it proves popular for cricket fans.” [BBC]

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