Sports
SLC: Security issues, ‘negative publicity’ among reasons Asia Cup was shifted
Difficulties procuring insurance, as well as logistical and security concerns, were some of the issues raised by sponsors and broadcasters that led to the Asia Cup being shifted from Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka Cricket has revealed.
“They felt that the situation in Sri Lanka was not conducive to garner the confidence of the stakeholders,” SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said in a media briefing.
“Not only the member countries, but a tournament of this magnitude requires other stakeholders, like the broadcasters, sponsors, etc. What they felt was that the negative publicity shown all over the world, with the petrol queues and all that, didn’t help our cause.”
That “negative publicity” refers to the economic crisis currently engulfing Sri Lanka, where a combination of high debt and low foreign exchange, compounded by poor fiscal management by the Sri Lankan government, has paved the way for a fuel and food shortage. This resulted in months-long protests calling for the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President. He eventually ceded to these demands last month, after throngs of protestors converged upon Colombo. The appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as his replacement, however, has failed to turn public sentiment.It was this tense country state that had made it nigh on impossible for security clearance to be granted for multiple broadcast crews to enter the country.
“Sponsors were finding it difficult to get insured, and the security clearance for broadcast crews to enter Sri Lanka was also an issue. The delegates who wanted to come from the other countries also weren’t prepared to come,” explained SLC CEO Ashley de Silva.
Further, while hosting bilateral tours against Australia and Pakistan went off without a hitch – even with protests reaching their peak during the second Test against Australia, and protestors a frequent presence outside the Galle stadium – it is understood that the logistics of providing accommodation, security and transport for one foreign team at a time, was a considerably more straightforward task than doing so for the multiple stakeholders involved in a tournament such as the Asia Cup.It didn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause that the Lanka Premier League, which was supposed to begin in the first week of August, was also postponed due to the current situation; it will now be held in November.
“The sponsors of the franchises had concerns about coming to Sri Lanka. A sponsorship deal not only entails sponsoring the side, but then the sponsors also need to be able to travel around the country freely. Sponsors come to give prominence to their brands, and they felt that at this time this sort of tournament would not give them the necessary mileage.”
That said, despite all these concerns, many of the Asian Cricket Council member nations had largely been on board with Sri Lanka going ahead with hosting the tournament – a sentiment backed up by how late this decision was left – however the key issue none of the boards were able to overlook was the potentially “huge financial losses” had the tournament been cancelled. This was down to the fact that the Asia Cup is a tournament that helps the ACC drum up funds for their development work – funds that are shared among member countries.
“This would have been done a long time ago if it was some other country. All the other countries were very supportive of having the tournament here, which is why they kept on delaying a final decision.
“But they felt a tournament of this magnitude, looking at the current situation, could not have been played here. They didn’t want to take any chances, because if the tournament got cancelled, all the members would have had to fund ACC for the next two years.”
There is, though, a silver lining of sorts for SLC, who have retained the tournament’s hosting rights, even though it is now to be held in the UAE. What this means is that SLC will still receive a substantial sum from the ACC, to the tune of roughly $ 6.5 million.Ashley de Silva detailed the expenditure, with the key takeaway being that the UAE will be using revenue from ticket sales to pay for expenses related to the tournament, whereas had Sri Lanka hosted it they would have used $ 2.5 million disbursed as a “hosting fee” to pay for the same and kept ticket sales as profits. Sri Lanka, however, will still receive the “hosting fee,” as well a percentage of ticket sales.
“Generally the revenue generated from the broadcast and ground rights goes to the ACC, who at the end of the tournament distributes these funds to the member countries that participate in this tournament. That is between 2-3 million, based on the profit which the tournament generates.
“Of the rest of the funds, part of it is given to the host of the tournament. From this we’re supposed to provide the accommodation and conduct the whole tournament in the country. That comes as hosts fee. And the hosts what they normally get is only the ticket money – this is the profit that the host board makes.
“So this $ 2.5 million would have gone towards accommodation for the players, officials, and also for logistical expenses related to the tournament. We would have ended up making a maximum of about $200,000-300,000. On top of that we would have also made some revenue from the ticket sales. And then there’s the distribution fund that all the teams would have got.
“Now, the UAE will only get the ticket sales, which is what they will use to conduct the entire tournament. We [Sri Lanka] will still get the host fee. In addition to that, the UAE has also promised to give us another $ 1.5 million from the ticket sales.”
While this is financially more than what SLC would have been making had Sri Lanka hosted the tournament, the country as a whole will lose out on crucial tourism revenue.
“If you look at it, we would have created a lot of awareness about the country and brought in a lot of tourism into the country, if the situation was normal and we held the tournament here. So economically the country also would have benefitted. But nevertheless, the funds we’re generating now will also end up coming into Sri Lanka.”
There were also two T20Is against India that had been earmarked, likely after the Asia Cup, which are now off the table.The Asia Cup is set to take place from August 27 to September 11.
(Cricinfo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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