Sooriyawewa off: Still no venues ready for Bangladesh tour

Hardly a month left for the series

It is almost certain that there will be no international cricket till at least June this year at the Sooriyawewa Stadium which is now in state of disrepair and neglect.

Initially it was revealed that when the Bangladeshis tour Sri Lanka in March, one of the one-day internationals would be played at the Rajapaksa International Stadium at Sooriyawewa. But, owing to constant chopping and fixing, the whole tour itinerary has been turned on its head, with no venues being confirmed so far -- and the Bangladesh authorities are also not very happy with the changes.

After much hassle the tour was worked out during the tenure of the last interim committee and it was SLC’s Chief Executive Officer Ashley de Silva who sealed off the deal for the two countries to play their games during the 2017 international cricket break.

The tour was to be staged with the two T- 20s and the three ODIs followed by the more important two Test matches.

Yet, bewilderingly with hardly a month for the tour to be on stage, there is nothing concrete in place. So much so even the provisional squad is not in practice sessions for the tour proper.

Now it is learned that CEO de Silva and SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala will discuss about the amended itinerary with the Bangladesh cricket authorities at the ongoing ICC sessions in Dubai.

At the same time it is also learned that the Sooriyawewa Stadium will be put to use when the Zimbabwe team arrives for their FTP return tour in June this year.

According to the original Bangladesh schedule, the tour was to be teed off on March 5 with a practice game and it would be followed with the two T-20s on March 8 and 10.

The first ODI was scheduled for March 14 while the other two ODIs would be played on March 17 and 20.

The first Test match was to be from March 24 to 28 and the second from April 1 to 5.

Meanwhile, a second itinerary for this tour also surfaced: That read as – the 1st Test at the Galle Stadium from 1-5 March. The second Test at the Pallekelle Stadium from 10-14 March, Two ODIs at the Dambulla Cricket Stadium on 19 and 22 March, 3rd ODI at Pallekelle, the T-20 matches on March 29 and 31 at the Premadasa Stadium.

Thereafter another itinerary was presented. This itinerary i n cl u d e d the Sooriyawewa Stadium as one of the ODI venues, before the fourth was introduced– much to the annoyance of the Bangladeshi authorities.