Media must be well treated

The World Cup Cricket event is a terrific opportunity for Sr Lanka Cricket to showcase not only the high quality of cricket the country plays but also the beauty of our country, our renowned culture or hospitality and our ability to orgainse such occasions very well. And it’s here that the importance of Press Coverage being accorded pride of place. Simply put, the Media whether local or international should given 5 star importance, With Australia, Pakistan, Canada, Zimbabwe and Kenya down to ply their cricketing wares here, accompanying them will be a horde of journalists who will not only want to describe the fortunes of their countrymen, but also be able to write home about what we - and many others - used to call ‘Paradise Island’.

With the dreaded war having ended and the country getting back to normalcy there is a lot to offer the tourists. It is vital the media is provided with every want to do their job and help their newspapers make headlines and keep deadlines.

Prestigious event

Nothing must be left to chance. Every individual journalist covering this prestigious event must not be allowed room to complain or grumble. Every journalist will be doing their copy under tremendous pressure.

Sri Lanka Cricket must be on the ball and see to it that the best facilities are provided for the journalists. Bad publicity could do immense harm to the authorities, the game and the country.

We must of course grant that SLC cannot provide all journalists with a constant presence in the main media box. Only journalists whose teams are in action and who are covering the game for their respective media would be allowed in.

But that does not mean that the other journalists should be ignored or treated shabbily. They too would love to watch the action and describe the action to their newspaper. They should be accommodated in an enclosure where they could take in the live action.

Nasty experience

When the ICC Twenty20 World Cup finals were played in England, some journalists had the nasty and frustrating experience of not being allowed into the main press box.

They were not provided with accommodation where they could have watched the action live and described it. They were put in an enclosure and asked to watch and describe the action by viewing it - believe it or not - on TV! SLC must not follow that nauseating example.

In the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, although every journalist was not allowed into main media box which was reserved for journalist whose teams were in action, there were other enclosures where the remaining journalists were able to sit and take in the action live in comfort and then report.

So Sri Lanka Cricket should do well to get the services of renowned men who have the necessary experience and who could form a good rapport with the local and visiting journalists and make their lot a comfortable one.

Pleasing them and looking into every minute detail of the hundreds of journalists descending here will be no easy task. But if men in the know and who have the necessary experience are entrusted with that responsibility then things would work out well.

All squads picked

All 14 countries making a bid to carry away the prestigious 2011 World Cup and the prizes that go with a final victory have named their squads of 15. They have picked their best and experienced sharp shooters to do battle.

It is the dream of every country figuring in the World Cup to hold aloft this elusive piece of silver ware for the world to see by winning it.

Once the World Cup is called ‘play’ on February 19, what will unfold from then on will be a cricketing battle where no quarter will be asked or given.

Great demand

Till the next World Cup the 2015 comes around, the winning team will be in great demand and sponsors will be making important decisions. If the past is anyting to go by, Governemnts too will reward their players in exceptional ways.

To the wagers it is not going to be easy picking the ultimate winner. Some teams will take the field with the favourites tag. But that will only be a tag. It is the team that has the luck that is so very important and who do the things right as the situation of the game demands will have the best chance of being crowned World Champions.

With the tournament being played in the sub continent – Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, it is the hope that one of the sub continent teams will triumph. But that is wishful thinking.

Good fortune

When the Word Cup was played in the sub continent in 1995/96 Sri Lanka won it because they had the good fortune of not having to play Australia and the West Indies.

That was because these two countries feared the security situation that was prevailing at that time and preferred to concede the points to Sri Lanka, rather than risk life and limb.

The Sri Lanka authorities of that time promised these two teams the best of security. But they were adamant and the International Cricket Council under whose control the World Cup is played were helpless and could not coax these two teams to honour their engagements here.

But this time round there will be no gift points being conceded. The Sri Lankan cricketers will have to fight for every point in their endeavour to make progress and if possible enter the final.

The Sri Lankans on form should enter the quarter-finals. It is from that point onwards that they will have to be at their best. Every one of the eleven players must excel in their chosen field. Not to do so will be to fall prey.

Excuses however good will not be accepted once in the big league.

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