Sports
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| It's
a crying shame again! This venue even has the edge over the Adelaide Oval, in South Australia where the late Sir Don Bradman, made a big impact in test cricket. The Esplanade has made much improvement. The facilities to the media - including the cricket crazy fans - toilet facilities put the venue to shame. This was spotlighted in these columns when the English cricket team was here in year 2000. The Interim Committee ran its affairs. Official of the organizing committee said the BCCSL was going to re-develop the venue - including VIP boxes but it failed to see the light of day. Then came the year 2003 when the Cricket Board was run by an administration elected by the member clubs. The English team under Nasser Hussain toured Sri Lanka. The visiting team played a test match at the Ruhunu test venue supported by their Balmy Army. There was no improvement whatsoever to the media or the all important toilet facilities but the same two toilets in the Galle Cricket Club office (for both men and women). One of them at times being locked for the Galle CC staff. When this scribe questioned one of the officials of the Galle Dist. C.A. he quipped “ask the Sri Lanka cricket hierarchy”. This was brought to the notice of the Cricket Board's senior officials. He said, remedial measures will be taken and things will be put right before the Aussie tour. But again it was a distant dream and it never became a reality. The first test between Sri Lanka and Australia was played here. Unlike the English cricket tour there weren't many journalists of the fairer sex but there was a freelance journalist Susan Jones and a handful of Aussie media including Robert Cradeek, Peter Roebuke etc. There was no old wine in a new bottle either. But the media local and foreign - including the fans had to make use of the two dinghy toilets situated in semi-darkness. |
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