Srilanka

LONDON, THURSDAY - Sri Lanka has officially complained to the ICC for the manner in which their team is being treated in the ongoing 2019 Cricket World Cup. Team manager Ashantha de Mel said that they had written to the ICC complaining about the type of pitches prepared for the Lankan matches, the practice facilities, the hotels and the type of transport provided for the team. &This is a World Cup where the top ten countries are taking part and I feel that all the participants should be treated equally,& said De Mel.

LONDON, THURSDAY - Sri Lanka has officially complained to the ICC for the manner in which their team is being treated in the ongoing 2019 Cricket World Cup. Team manager Ashantha de Mel said that they had written to the ICC complaining about the type of pitches prepared for the Lankan matches, the practice facilities, the hotels and the type of transport provided for the team. &This is a World Cup where the top ten countries are taking part and I feel that all the participants should be treated equally,& said De Mel.

&What we have found out is that for the four matches we have played so far at Cardiff and Bristol the ICC has prepared a green pitch, and at the same venues where the other countries have played the pitches are brown and favourable for high scoring,& pointed out De Mel.

The manager was referring particularly to the match between England and Bangladesh at Cardiff where 666 runs were scored (England 386/6; Bangladesh 280) and Australia v India at the Oval where both teams topped 300 runs and a total of 668 runs was scored on flat brown pitches.

&The pitch being prepared for our match against Australia on Saturday here at the Oval is green. It is not (a case of) sour grapes that we are complaining but it is very unfair on the part of the ICC that they prepare one type of wicket for certain teams and another type for others,& said De Mel.

The manager further pointed out that even the bus that has been assigned to transport the Lankan team is a small and cramped up one with less seating capacity whereas for instance Pakistan have been given a spacious double-decker bus.

&Even the practice facilities provided at Cardiff were unsatisfactory. Instead of three nets they gave us only two and the hotel we were put up at Bristol did not have a swimming pool, which is very essential for every team for the fast bowlers especially to relax their muscles after practice. The hotels that Pakistan and Bangladesh were put up at Bristol had swimming pools,& pointed out De Mel.

&We wrote to the ICC listing all these shortcomings four days ago but so far we have not had any response from them. We will continue to write to them until we get a reply,& he said.

Certainly it is no way to treat a former World Cup champion nation. Sri Lanka were past champions of the World Cup having won it in 1996 and were finalists on two other occasions in 2007 and 2011 whereas countries like England, New Zealand and South Africa have yet to lay their hands on the most coveted silverware.

De Mel was also quite critical of the timing of the World Cup being held in the early part of the summer that has resulted in several matches being affected by bad weather. Sri Lanka had both their matches played at Bristol against Pakistan and Bangladesh abandoned without a ball being bowled, while only 7.3 overs were bowled in the match between South Africa and West Indies at Southampton.

&What they should have done is played the Ashes series first and then held the World Cup in the latter part of the summer which is generally dry. It seems like the Ashes has more clout than a World Cup,& De Mel said.

PRADEEP BOWLS AT PRACTICE

The good news for Sri Lanka is that Nuwan Pradeep who dislocated the little finger of his right hand at practice ahead of the World Cup game against Bangladesh had a bowl at the Oval nets today (Thursday) before rain curtailed practice.

&Nuwan bowled for about 15-20 minutes and he did not feel uncomfortable, but we will have to check out whether he can field without feeling any pain in his injured finger,& said De Mel.

&We will have a fielding session for him tomorrow (Friday) and if he gets through, he will be available for selection for the Australian match,& he said.

The Mihintale & Lake House Aloka Pooja Pinkama organised by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd for the 57th time will commence at Mihintale on a grandscale tomorrow (June 15). The three day Aloka Pooja Pinkama held to commemorate the advent of Arahat Mahinda Thera and the establishment of the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka is held under the patronage of Mihintale Raja Maha Viharadhipati Ven. Walawahengunawewe Dhammaratana Nayake Thera and the direction of ANCL (Lake House) Chairman and Managing Director Krishantha Cooray.

The historic Catholic church St. Anthony's Shrine at Kochchikade in Colombo celebrated the 185th annual feast on Thursday, nearly two months after the Easter Sunday suicide attack on the shrine.The trilingual festive High Mass was conducted by Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.St. Anthony's Shrine in Kochchikade which was bombed on April 21, was consecrated once again on Wednesday by the Cardinal and reopened to the public. The Church was restored with the assistance of the Navy and reopened with a special service conducted by the Archbishop of Colombo.

Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya has approved indictments to be filed against ten accused in the bond scam case before the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar following an application made by the Attorney General. The Attorney-Generalcoordinating officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne told that the Chief Justice had given his approval on being satisfied with the information filed by the AG in the bond case. Accordingly, the Attorney General will file indictments in the Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar against ten accused in due course.