Making the right start

ONE cannot go completely overboard by Sri Lanka's performance in the first cricket Test against India at Chennai which saw only four sessions of play out of a possible 15 due to Cyclone Baaz lopping off the best part of the match.

But within that limited space of time the amount of zest and energy the Lankans generated to bowl the powerful Indian batting out for 167 and then top that total 31 overs quicker than their opponents took to score gave Marvan Atapattu's men that little bit of confidence and edge they needed to start the series off.

In the one-day series Sri Lanka were given no chance whatsoever as India blasted them out of contention right from the very first ball by rattling up an imposing 350-6 in 50 overs.

From there onwards it was Team India that called all the shots and they never allowed Sri Lanka to settle down or play the kind of cricket they are capable of.

India had similar plans to upset the Lankans in the Test series too as their captain Rahul Dravid at the pre-match press conference said: "We played good cricket in the one-day series and we didn't allow Sri Lanka to play good cricket. That's what we will have to do in the Test series."

But thanks to Cyclone Baaz their plans to upset the Lankans went awry forcing them to re-think their strategy and planning for the remaining two Tests in the series.

The most heartwarming fact is that the Indian media had come to accept the fact that Sri Lanka took a psychological edge from the rain ruined Test.

'The Indian Express' said: 'Jaya' wardene, 'Jai' Sri Lanka!, 'The Times of India': Sri Lanka Test +ve, and the 'Hindustan Times': It's advantage Lanka after first bout.

These headlines somewhat belittled the comments made by Australian coach Greg Chappell who tended to play it down by saying: "I wouldn't read too much into what we've seen in the last two days. It was good practice for both teams."

Insuring cricket

Uncertainty affects financing for the organizers, broadcaster, sponsors and public tickets buying where Test matches face the threat of rain like the one in Chennai, fortunately for them there are insurance companies willing to lend a helping hand.

Wherever there is an extra perception of risk insurance companies step into level the playing field as it happened in the Chennai Test between Sri Lanka and India. One company issued a 'one ball bowled' cover to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.

Here the cover was valid if not a single ball was bowled for even one of the five days. The insurance company was relieved when play began after three days of incessant rains.

"We are now working on a graded cover for the Ahmedabad Test where the compensation will be based on the number of overs bowled," the Economic Times quoted a spokesman from the company.

According to the newspaper insurance helps bring in more money into sports in India. "If the event is insured the sponsor is safe and is more confident in putting up money," the paper said.

The 'Economic Times' revealed that for the Indian Oil Cup (IOC) one-day triangular series held in Sri Lanka in August, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had agreed to bear the risk of terrorism and political risk and requested the broadcaster for the series Ten Sports to take insurance cover only for losses arising out of adverse weather and 'acts of god'.

SLC had agreed to indemnify the company against all other risks including terrorism or political risk because getting insurance cover turned out to be a major challenge for the Sri Lankan board because local companies did not have the capacity.

International companies declined the cover and some quoted very high rates. However SLC were lucky to get a cover for a third of what the international underwriters were quoting.

"It wasn't just a case of good fortune. We went through 30 years of weather data and obtained crowd statistics for the past 10 years.

We went through information on how many matches were cancelled and why. Only after providing these kinds of information that insurance companies were willing to quote, the newspaper said.