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A damp squib of a Test match
By Jonathan Liew last year, mid-December, 5 Comments »
Mike Selvey was seeing the Galle squelch-pit through uncharacteristically rose-tinted glasses in yesterday’s Guardian:
Already there has been insensitive and thoughtless talk about shifting the match back to Colombo - as if that is the sort of thing that happens when rain is forecast for Chester-le-Street, or the Old Trafford outfield has been damaged by concert-goers. It just goes to show how some people are incapable of seeing a wider picture beyond their wraparound shades: anyone who suggests such a thing has failed to grasp what this match at this ground means to Galle specifically and to Sri Lanka in general.
The point Selvey was making, I think, is that it doesn’t really matter if there’s any meaningful cricket or not in Galle: as long as everyone turns up and mumbles some vaguely heartfelt sentiments about how much it means to the region, it’s really rather immaterial that a Test series is ruined and the England fans who have travelled thousands of miles to see proper Test cricket are instead treated to something rather akin to the serious bits of Comic Relief.
Obviously - obviously - it’s great that Galle is getting back on its feet, and it’s also nice to see international cricketers recognising the existence of something more important than cricket. Yet at the same time, there’s a Test match to be played, and either the ground’s fit to stage it, or it’s not. If it’s not, then moving the Test would have been simple common sense. Not only that, but it would have given Galle time to make a grand, dignified re-entrance to the Test arena, rather than the sodden mess that looks like ensuing.
If it’s playable, then, you know, fine. Hoggy’ll like a bowl on it. But while this outpouring of generosity and consideration to a town still trying to remake itself is absolutely the right thing to do, you do wonder whether it could be done without also devaluing Test cricket, which is in the interests of nobody. Offering support and assistance to those in need is one thing; ruining an enthralling Test series to achieve it smacks of perversity.
5 Comments »Galle in a race against time
By Will last year, mid-December, 3 Comments »
Tuesday should be a point of symbolic closure for the people of Galle, Sri Lanka’s ancient fortress of a city, when England and Sri Lanka play their third Test at the ground which was devastated by the Tsunami in 2004. However, things are not looking remotely promising. Suffice to say, the ground appears to be not only weeks behind schedule but unfit to host a Test, which is a great shame - mainly because it will overshadow what Sri Lanka hoped would be a turning point.
Look at the dressing rooms for starters:
Andrew Miller is there.
