Doubts over Kanpur Test

Even as Chennai faces a cyclone threat ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka, doubts have emerged over the venue of the third tie with the hosts, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), informing the Indian board that it was yet to get control over Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

Kanpur is scheduled to stage the third Test from December 18 but the failure of the municipal corporation to hand over the ground to the UPCA has thrown the match into jeopardy. "It is not correct to say we have expressed our inability to host the match. We have informed the Annual General Meeting that we have not been yet allotted the ground," Jyoti Bajpai, the UPCA secretary, said. Bajpai's clarification came amid speculation that the match could be shifted out of Kanpur. Asked if the board had told the UPCA about a change in venue of the match, Bajpai replied in the negative.

Bajpai said normally the UPCA took charge of Green Park, which it leases from the municipal corporation, 30 days before a match. "On our behalf, we are pursuing the matter. The scoreboards and other facilities that have been in our control are in condition," he said.

In the past too, the UPCA and the local authorities have been at loggerheads with regard to the conduct of matches. The state officials have not hesitated to flex their muscles as was witnessed during the one-day international against Pakistan in April 2005 when the sale of tickets were allegedly taken over by the police.