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In anticipation of the 2011 World Cup, co-hosted with India and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to import 6,000 chairs that she could use in the stadiums of the island. No giant electronic screens, no super soppers, but chairs.
By the time they arrived, the tournament had started and, with clearance problems, they stayed at the Colombo docks long after the tournament ended.
In preparation for this same World Cup, a state of the art stadium was built in Hambantota, the personal fiefdom of then Mahinda Rajapaksa 's president. To get there was a herculean task and finding places to stay in the surroundings was even more difficult. The 35,000-seat venue will not host any matches during Sri Lanka's South Africa tour, and it remains on the southeast coast as a monument to SLC's madness.
Team trips and other because of the scarcity of funds while sanctioning white elephant projects to please those in power. It's the same organization that refused to take care of a player's health and then questioned his loyalty after his Indian Premier League franchise paid for his operation.
You can not talk about conflict as Sri Lankan cricket not to mention the mess that goes with it. Throughout Palk Sound, the Cricket Control Council of India (BCCI) has often been involved in a controversy. Zimbabwe's cricket authorities were notorious for the funds to disappear conveniently, and South Africa had to face the fiasco of the Global Cricket League that did not leave the track. But for an always appalling administration, SLC set the bar very high. In the mid-1990s, Ana Punchihewa, who ran the Coca-Cola operations in Sri Lanka, joined the Cricket Council to inject a dose of indispensable professionalism. With Arjuna Ranatunga as captain, Sri Lanka then won the World Cup in 1996, beating Australia in the Lahore final. In a few weeks, Punchihewa was gone, deposed in a palace coup by individuals who continued to exert influence despite a clutter of charges against them.
On the field, a team that was once so hard to beat on the field has found fight after the retirement of some of the greatest players in their history. Muttiah Muralitharan signed his 800th test against India in 2010 in Galle and Rangana Herath, who took over, is now 40 years old. Lasith Malinga also stopped the cricket test at the end of Murali's farewell series. 19659002] Murali-sized voids were also left behind by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, whose beastly talent had so tormented South Africa. The younger generation, commissioned by Dinesh Chandimal, showed shine but not the consistency that Sangakkara and Jayawardene have envisioned for so long.
Few South African fans will forget the 2006 series on the island, when the sound of the ball Encountering soft spots on their bats gave the Proteas a throbbing collective headache. In the Sinhalese Sports Club's first field test, both teams added a world record of 624. Jayawardene contributed to a monumental performance of 374, covering more than two batting days. In the next match, at P Sara Oval on the other side of the city, he made 123 goals while Sri Lanka chased 352 with a wicket at his disposal. Remember, it was not against an attack of pop-guns, but with Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock
Shortly after, a triangular series featuring India was Abandoned after a bomb exploded near the hotel's team. As South African players prepared to go home with the tournament abandoned, they had to be warned not to look too happy.
Some, including the normally exuberant Ntini, were still traumatized by what Sangakkara and Jayawardene had done to them. The only mention of the partnership would invoke distant zombie looks.
This was not just the pillars of opposition that South Africa had to face, either. These matches, during what is typically the monsoon season in South Asia, are also a physical challenge. The humidity can be unbearable, and the players a soggy mess in the minutes to take the field. During this tour in 2006, while South Africa was playing a training match in a suburb of Colombo, Roger Telemachus, the speed bowler who was not always renowned for his attention to physical preparation, was halfway. . Graeme Smith, obviously not amused, soon banished him to the fine leg
It was a phase during which Sri Lanka was intimidating opponents. In the decade from August 2001, they played 20 home test series, winning 15. The only losses were against Australia and Pakistan's Ricky Ponting, who n? have not exactly found foreign conditions. An Indian roster including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly was routed in 2008, with Ajantha Mendis, a mystery spinner fished from the army side, taking 26 wickets from all three tests.
The story was different since, due to generation change, lack of stability in the coaching position and administrative errors, everything took a toll.
Since August 2011, the Sri Lankan series record at home was mediocre 6-5. Last season, India went over and beat them in all three tests. At the last visit to South Africa four years ago, they won at Galle, where Steyn took nine for 99, and survived the Sinhalese Sports Club's field, with Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander at the heart of an epic rearguard action.
In Chandika Hathurusingha, Sri Lanka has one of the most respected coaches of the game. But it says a lot about the state of their administration that he had to prove himself elsewhere, especially with Bangladesh, before receiving the call. Chandimal will probably miss the South African series because of a ban on the International Cricket Council and the experience is thin on the ground.
The test locust also stopped attracting Sri Lankan crowds a long time ago. In Galle, some will curiously observe the ramparts of the Dutch fort which overlooks the ground. Others might look into the doors if they are not actually barricaded. Few people, however, will venture through the turnstiles.
In Colombo, it is likely to be even worse, where small groups of tourists vie for cavernous space with schoolchildren being transported to offer a semblance of atmosphere.
For South Africa, facing a talent future of the AB de Villiers, it's an important turn, a great opportunity to consolidate the winnings of the home season by beating the India and Australia. For Sri Lanka, which has been in a downward spiral for most of the last decade, it's one more chance for players to impose on the side.
Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara can do some damage with the new balloon Africa's hopes of winning a third series on Sri Lankan soil – the first was a quarter of a century ago – will largely depend part of the way they attack the cunning Herath and the promising Lakshan Sandakan. But with Murali, Sangakkara and Jayawardene now on the other side of the border, Serendip's challenge is no longer what it once was.
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