Sports

SLC: Security issues, ‘negative publicity’ among reasons Asia Cup was shifted

Published

4 years ago

2022/08/5

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)

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Sourav Ganguly, Kevin Pietersen and Anjum Chopra inducted into ICC Hall of Fame

Published

7 hours ago

2026/07/12

Priyan

Sourav Ganguly played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India [Cricinfo]

Sourav Ganguly, Kevin Petersen and Anjum Chopra have become the latest inductees to the ICC Hall of Fame, unveiled at a ceremony in Edinburgh. Their induction takes the total number of ICC Hall of Fame members to 125.

Ganguly, considered one of India’s best captains, played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs. He started his Test career against England in 1996 and made two hundreds in his first two Tests. In all, he scored 7212 runs at an average of 42.17 in Test cricket and 11,363 at 41.02 in ODIs. In white-ball cricket, he formed a prolific opening pair with Sachin Tendulkar. The two opened together 136 times, adding a record 6609 runs with 21 century stands.

Ganguly’s bigger contribution probably was as captain. He took over the side after the 2000 match-fixing saga and made India a formidable side outside India. Under his captaincy, India won the NatWest Series in England in 2002 and were the joint-winners of the Champions Trophy later that year. In 2003, he led the team to the final of the 2003 ODI World Cup, where they lost to Australia. In Test cricket, Ganguly’s side beat Australia 2-1 in the famous 2000-01 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home before drawing 1-1 in Australia in 2003-04.

“To have my name included among cricket’s greatest players will remain one of my most cherished moments,” Ganguly said. “Representing India and playing along with several greats of the game has been a privilege, and to now be recognised in this way is truly special. This game has given me a lot, and I hope to continue to serve the game in the years to come.”

England’s Pietersen played 104 Tests, scoring 8181 runs at 47.28. In his very first Test series, the 2005 Ashes, he played a key role in England winning the urn after 17 years with a stroke-filled 158 at The Oval on the final day of the series. In 2012-13, he was also instrumental in England winning a Test series in India for the first time in 28 years.

Known for his flamboyant strokeplay, including the switch hit, Pietersen also scored 4440 runs in 136 ODIs, and was the Player of the Tournament in England’s 2010 T20 World Cup win.

“It is the highest recognition a cricketer can receive, and I know it will take some time for it to fully sink in,” Pietersen said. “I feel privileged to have played across all three formats of the game, and I look back on my career with immense pride and satisfaction.”

Chopra, a left-hand batter who captained India in all three formats, made her international debut in 1995. She was the first Indian woman to reach 1000 ODI runs and the first to play 100 ODIs. She also made notable contributions for India in the 2000 and 2005 ODI World Cups. Overall, she scored 2856 runs in 127 ODIs.

She played 12 Tests, scoring 548 runs with a best of 98 that came in the 2006 victory over England in Taunton. She also captained India to their overseas Test victory, in South Africa in 2002.

“As a kid growing up in a sporting household, I had heard stories of cricketing greats and momentous achievements,” Chopra said. “A dream to play for India got instilled very early on. I was encouraged to think big by my parents, teachers and coaches who have always been there to support me during tough times.

“I also got the timely support of administrators as I went on to wear the national colours with great pride. This honour – to be recognised amongst the game’s greatest – is an award for all those who have helped shape my career.”

Launched in January 2009 as part of the ICC’s centenary celebrations, the ICC Hall of Fame honours those whose achievements, skill and lasting influence have shaped the game. Players become eligible for induction only five years after their final international appearance.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Wanyonyi breaks world 1000m record with 2:11.83 in Monaco

Published

8 hours ago

2026/07/12

Priyan

Emmanuel Wanyonyi

Emmanuel Wanyonyi made his 1000m debut in sensational style, running 2:11.83* to break the long-standing world record at the Meeting International d’Athlétisme Herculis EBS in Monaco on Friday (10).

With that performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting, the Olympic and world 800m champion took 0.13 off the world record of 2:11.96 set by his Kenyan compatriot Noah Ngeny in Rieti in 1999.

Wanyonyi followed the pacemakers as the first pacemaker reached 400m on world record pace in 50.95 as planned. The second pacemaker hit 800m in 1:45.11 before Wanyonyi took over and stormed towards the finish line, chased hard by 2022 world 1500m champion Jake Wightman.

Wanyonyi reached the finish in 2:11.83, Wightman followed him in 2:12.77 to move to fifth on the world all-time list and world and Olympic medallist Djamel Sedjati was third in 2:13.94 as the top six all dipped under 2:15.

[World Athletics]

Sports

Gaud makes her Lord’s mark as India surge into dominant position

Published

11 hours ago

2026/07/12

Priyan

Kranti Gaud ripped through England's batting for a famous five-for at Lord's [Cricinfo]

As the ball popped out of Sneh Rana’s hands and looped over her shoulder at second slip, a place in history hung in the air. Shafali Verma’s attention and agility snatched it, centimetres above the Lord’s turf, and now Kranti Gaud is the first woman’s name inked on the revered Test honours board.

Gaud had removed retiring England opener Tammy Beaumont on the first evening of this maiden women’s Test at Lord’s and picked up on Saturday where she’d left off, as India’s quicks condemned their hosts to a rough start on the second day. By stumps, Gaud had taken 5 for 37 and India were well on course for a famous win in a famous match.

Resuming on 21 for 1 in reply to India’s 285, England lost three wickets inside the first seven overs of the day, then their last six for 39 runs as they were bowled out for 170. Amy Jones’ second fifty in the format – she scored her first on Test debut in 2019 – went largely in vain as England faced a first-innings deficit of 115 runs.

Smriti Mandhana raised her second half-century of the match in front of 15,243 people at Lord’s, a world-record attendance for a single day at a women’s Test, to consolidate India’s control over the match.

Having scored 83 in the first innings, Mandhana was unbeaten on 69 at the close alongside Yastika Bhatia, who was not out on 39, the pair having shared an unbroken 66-run stand for the second wicket to put India 269 runs ahead and looking well beyond England’s reach. The highest successful run-chase in women’s Tests is 198 by Australia against England in Sydney in 2011.

Gaud struck in the third over of the day as Maia Bouchier fenced at one outside off and sent a thick outside edge to Bhatia behind the stumps.

Heather Knight fell three balls later, failing to overturn an lbw decision to a Sayali Satghare fuller ball that bent past the outside edge and rapped Knight’s front pad in line with middle stump. Ball-tracking upheld the dismissal on umpire’s call with the ball shown to be clipping leg stump.

But Gaud’s removal of Alice Capsey was the highlight. The ball pitched on a full length and angled in before swinging away to flatten off stump, giving Gaud two wickets for five runs in the space of 13 balls.

Jones brought up her half-century off 49 balls, steering Rana through deep third and running three before Nat Sciver Brunt sent a glorious slog-sweep over the rope off Shree Charani. But Rana’s riposte broke their 84-run stand for the fifth wicket as Jones jabbed her bat down and sent an inside-edge ballooning straight to Richa Ghosh at short leg.

Gaud had just started her second spell when she removed Sciver-Brunt with the ninth ball after the lunch break, lbw for 44. Satghare and Rana then dispensed with Sophie Ecclestone and Mady Villiers in the space of seven deliveries and, after a brief change of ends to bowl down the slope for an over, Gaud switched back to going uphill and, two balls later, she had her historic five-for.

As Lauren Bell attempted to drive outside off stump, the ball shot straight at Rana’s throat and she parried it into the air, spinning in confusion while Verma swooped at first slip to save the catch. The moment Rana realised Verma had held the ball in her right hand diving forward at full stretch, she did an about-face, thrust her index finger in the air and ran to join the mob enveloping Gaud.

One day shy of a year since making her T20I debut in England during India’s tour last summer – during which she also took a six-wicket haul in just her fourth ODI appearance – Gaud could lay claim not just to a significant personal achievement but to putting her side in a winning position even before the halfway point of this match.

Bell and Issy Wong sent down three maidens between them to start the evening session after India went to the tea break at 30 without loss, but it was a short-lived break to India’s progress. Shafali struck back-to-back fours off Wong and Mandhana helped herself to three fours in a row off Wong’s fourth over, clearing point, piercing the gap to the right of gully and driving through the covers as the India pair combined for an 88-run opening stand.

Ecclestone re-entered the attack after drinks and, when Mandhana skipped down the pitch and launched one down the ground for six, she replied with the wicket of Verma, picking out sub fielder Emma Lamb at mid-on to depart for 33. Aside from a missed leg-side stumping as Bhatia toppled out of her crease to Ecclestone, it was the only real opportunity England could create.

Scores:
India Women 285 in 74.5 overs [Smriti Mandhana 83, Harmanpreet Kaur 58, Deepti Sharma 57; Sophie Ecclestone 3-68] and 154 for 1 in 42 overs (Smriti Mandhana 69*, Yastia Bhatia 39*; Sophie Ecclestone 1-46) lead England Women 170 in 59.1 overs (Nat Sciver Brunt 44, Amy Jones 52; Kranti Gaud 5-37) by 269 runs

[Crricinfo]