Player concerns to be taken on board before trip to Lahore: SLC

By Madushka Balasuriya

Sri Lankan players will be provided with an open forum to discuss any concerns they may have about touring Pakistan for the final T20 international in Lahore, SLC said yesterday. 

Pakistan will host Sri Lanka for two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is, all of which will be played in the UAE except for the last T20I, which is scheduled to be played in Lahore subject to security clearances.

“We will assess the security situation whilst the tour is going on and then take a call. As planned we will be sending our security personnel to Pakistan at least two weeks in advance of the team going there in order to carry out an assessment and give us a report,” said SLC CEO Ashley De Silva at a media briefing prior to the tour yesterday.

However, De Silva noted that were the match in Lahore to get the go-ahead the players would have a “contractual obligation” to take part. 

“As per the agreement they have signed per Sri Lanka Cricket there is a contractual obligation, but if the players have concerns they can always bring it to the attention of the management. So far they have not done so, but they are aware that a match has been scheduled to be played in Pakistan.”

When pressed as to whether there would be repercussions for any players who decided not to go, he added: “I don’t think so, but we would look at their security first and we will ensure that nothing would happen if they’re to go to Pakistan.”

Thilan Samaraweera, who was on board the bus that was attacked in Lahore in 2009, recently spoke out against forcing players to travel to Pakistan, while Chamara Kapugedara and Suranga Lakmal, who are in the touring Lankan T20I squad, were also on the bus in 2009. It would be unsurprising if the duo had reservations.

Sri Lankan Captain Dinesh Chandimal, when questioned on the players’ stance, echoed De Silva’s sentiments, saying the players would wait for the security report before coming to a collective decision. He did however say that he had had a brief conversation with Thisara Perera - who was part of the World XI team that played in Lahore recently - and had received positive feedback on the security situation.“I didn’t get to talk to him that much, but when we did speak he said the state of security was very good. It’s a decision that all the players need to sit down and make.”

The board will reveal their decision after the end of the second Test on 10 October.

India defeat a silver lining 

for morale: Pothas

Sri Lanka Head Coach Nic Pothas was in a bullish mood ahead of the team’s departure for their tour of the UAE and Pakistan, stating that Sri Lanka’s trouncing at the hands of India had counterintuitively improved morale in the dressing room.

“I think we need to be clear that team morale is a massive thing. This team is so, so close together, and that Indian series brought them even closer together,” he said at the SLC headquarters yesterday ahead of the team’s departure.

The team were whitewashed in both the longer and shorter formats of the game, with the Indian outfit a clear class-apart from their Sri Lankan counterparts, however, Pothas was adamant that while winning games would build confidence, the mood in the dressing room wasn’t something fans should be worried about. “I think out in the public domain we think because we had a tough series against a very, very good Indian side that you don’t have good morale - that actually makes morale even stronger. Yes, we have a few things in place, and of course winning games of cricket builds confidence but this is a fantastic bunch of players who are all very, very good friends.”

Sri Lanka face Pakistan in the first Test on Thursday (28) in Abu Dhabi.