Advertising slump leads to series blackout

Sri Lanka's cricket followers face a television and radio blackout for the Test series in the Caribbean after all three major domestic broadcasters turned down opportunities to bid for the rights to the games.

The reason behind the decision is the slump in advertising revenue following the World Cup in March, allied to the plethora of international games which have been broadcast lately. Sri Lanka's patchy form has also been a factor.

"The team's performance has dropped and advertisers are not interested any more," said Upali Arambewela, a director-general of Rupavahini, the main cricket broadcaster. "They have told us they would now prefer to advertise on our non-cricket programmes."

Wisden CricInfo will be providing ball-by-ball coverage throughout the two-Test series.