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| Saturday, 19 February 2005 |
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Tsunami hits Galle Test venue With reference to the article under the heading "Tsunami spells disaster for Galle as a Test venue", I would like to express my views in this regard. I believe, the four points raised by Thilanga Sumathipala does not hold water. For the information of those who will ultimately decide on this most sensitive issue, I would like to state that the venue at which the picturesque Galle Stadium stands has a history surrounding it dating back to the Dutch Period nearly 400 years ago. Besides the Lord's Cricket Ground, there are no grounds across the world with such a heritage that anyone can be proud of. As for the four reasons given by Sumathipala, I would like to state as follows: * No guarantee of another tsunami and people will blame us for investing - What about all five star hotels along the southern coast? These properties are valued at billions of rupees and the investors are reconstructing the damaged hotels which would be operational in the very near future. Further, no one could predict the next tsunami and the damage it could cause to property. Are we going to move all infrastructure from the city of Colombo if such a situation occurs in the western belt? Surely.....life must go on. * The sound of the rough seas in the background can cause undue disturbance in the cricketers' mind - This is a very vague assumption. Galle has been an international test venue since 1997 - 1998 and when the idea was first mooted to elevate Galle to test venue status, was not this factor considered? What about the tons of runs scored by Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva. Visiting teams too have scored heavily despite the wickets being tailor-made for spin. Rather than being disturbing, I believe the sound of the waves must be very soothing to the cricketers especially the batsman. If not to what situation can we attribute these fine performances by batsmen. I am sure that listening to that old melody by Nina& Frederick "Listen to the Ocean" may change the minds of those promoting this weird thought. * If someone creates a panic that another tsunami is coming in the middle of an international match witnessed by about 15,000 to 20,000 spectators anything could happen. We will be held responsible for the safety of the spectators - What about the early warning system that is going to be in place shortly. The very purpose of this system is to pre-warn people to move further inland from vulnerable areas thereby eliminating any chaos and resultant deaths. * Finally, to safeguard the ground from such calamities we need to construct tall walls around - Here again, such a structure is totally unnecessary. We cannot build tall walls across the entire sea coast of Sri Lanka! These are not practical ideas from sensible thinking people. * There are many Test Venues around the world close to the sea coast. Kingsmead in Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth all in South Africa; Hobart in Tasmania, Australia. Besides some grounds in the West Indies are also close to the sea. Are batsmen finding it difficult and complaining of the sound of the ocean? Whether you come from Point Pedro or Tangalle in the Southern-most tip of the island, it does not matter. We have to do what is correct. The present ground and stadium at Galle could easily be revamped to it's original splendour with even better facilities for the players, media and spectators including the cost of re-laying the outfield and the centre turf for less than Rs. 200 million. I see no reason why a billion rupees should be spent to build another stadium at another location in the southern province. Over to you Sri Lanka Cricket. - Kumar Boralessa |
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