Cricket stadiums delivered in style:

Another feather in President Rajapaksa's cap

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE

The glee, excitement and sense of achievement was palpable as President's Rajapaksa soaked in the emotions of the Semi Final win at the Premadasa Stadium. It was a day when the entire country came to a halt, except to watch the Sri Lanka team play and win.

Such was the focus, that one wag quipped that even if someone came to rob the country, they could have got away with it .. and nobody would have noticed!

As memories are short lets recall that throughout this series the huge crowds that assembled in the three Stadiums marvelled at the way they were brought up to international standard.

Many doubts were expressed. Some critics including some parts of the media hurled bricks if not brickbats at the administrators of Sri Lanka Cricket-chairman D.S. de Silva and Suraj Dandeniya the Tournament Director and his hard working team. The ICC had their doubts which were soon dispelled by D.S. de Silva's and Dandeniya's confidence. Fears were made lairs! When challenged at a Press conference the President who had an eagle eye over the three projects was quick to dismiss the concerns. And he was proved right.

His confidence in D.S de Silva and the team supporting Dandeniya was unshaken. Not only did they deliver on time, there were hardly any major issues that surfaced during the matches played in Hambantota, Pallekelle and in Colombo.

If there were issues as there would have been, it would have been minor. Dandeniya and team quickly attended to issues with excellent responsiveness.

One has only to look at what happened in India during the run up to the Commonwealth Games and to this ODI series to realise what a mess can be made of such ventures if you do not have the right leadership and the involvement of the Head of State. In Sri Lanka that support was there in full measure.

The SLC led by de Silva who was a former Captain of Sri Lanka and Dandeniya deserve the encomiums of all cricket fans, the Sri Lanka Team and all Sri Lankans for that matter. The reputation of the country was at stake when the President directed and the SLC undertook to host such a challenging set of events. The importance and impact of what SLC delivered cannot be understated. Congratulation SLC. You have done the Country proud.