Colombo will experience more rain – Met report

SLC to stick with Galle as Test venue

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday decided to retain Galle as the venue for the first cricket Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan after seriously considering moving the Test to a different venue due to the prevailing bad weather experienced in the country.

A heavily overcast Galle International Cricket Stadium

The Test in a series of three is due to commence on Saturday (June 4).
SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told The Bottom Line that the interim committee at an emergency held yesterday had discussed a possible change or switch of venues for the first Test after the heavy downpour Galle had undergone for the past eight days.
Galle CC’s chief curator Jayananda Warnaweera said that there was continuous rain for the past eight days and only yesterday it was bright and sunny.
“The pitch is ready but I am worried about the outfield which is very wet,” said Warnaweera.
Ranatunga said they had made an evaluation of the weather pattern for the next ten days and the signs are that Colombo would receive more rain than in Galle during the period.
“We thought it is best to stick with Galle as the original schedule because the chances are that we may have more playing time in Galle than in Colombo according to the weather reports,” said Ranatunga.
“We will make use of all the facilities available to us to ensure that we get maximum play at Galle. We will transport more covers from Colombo to cover the entire ground,” he said.
The SLC was contemplating switching the dates of the Tests by playing the first Test in Colombo and making Galle host the third Test.
Another option they were looking at was to take the Test to Dambulla where there is dry weather during this period. Dambulla has not hosted a single Test match but only international limited-over matches and 4-day first-class games.
Ranatunga also said that there were other logistical issues they had to clear like hotels, transport of equipment for TV broadcasting, ticket sales, catering and preparation of wickets before the match could have been transferred to a different venue.
Since becoming an international Test venue in July 1998, Galle has hosted 13 Test matches so far the last one being against India in July last year which the touring side won by 170 runs. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have played only one Test there in 2000 when Pakistan emerged victorious by 163 runs.
The second Test is scheduled at the Saravanamuttu Stadium from July 12-16 and the third at the SSC from July 20-24.