Unavailability of covers hampers cricket at Uyanwatta
Tuesday, 10 February 2015 00:02
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Text and pictures by P.D. de Silva
Many sessions of play at the Uyanwatta Stadium in Matara were lost due to the unavailability of covers. The few covers available were damaged and needed replacement.
The Uyanwatta Stadium is owned and maintained by the Matara Municipal Council while the Matara District Cricket Association is responsible for developing and promoting the game in the district.
The Uyanwatta Stadium boasts of 12 centre turf wickets of international standard laid by Sri Lanka Cricket for the T20 World Cup in 2012.
The first day’s play of the match between St. Thomas College Matara and St. Patrick’s College Jaffna was hampered due to a damp wicket.
Charith Palliyage, the coach of STC Matara, which is striving to secure a slot in Division One of the school cricket tournament, has been set back due to the loss of playing time and the possibility of forcing outright wins.
He said that the many requests made to the Matara District Cricket Association to provide covers for the 12 centre wickets had fallen on deaf ears.
Rev. Brother Francis, the Master-in-Charge of the St. Patrick’s College team, said that the school has spent over Rs. 100,000 to send its team to Matara and it was a big disappointment that play was lost due to the unavailability of covers at a venue where Sri Lanka Cricket conducts some of its international games.
It is time that the authorities concerned provide sufficient covers for the Uyanwatta Stadium and ensure that they are taken care of.
