Growing discontent with organisation of U19 World Cup

With the U19 World Cup only in the fourth day of group matches, the tournament organisers are increasingly being criticised by team mangers and coaches. The source of this discontent is the unacceptable nature of some of the pitches, the absence of reserve days, the inadequate condition of the covers, error strewn official scoring and a perception of double standards between the test and non-test playing nations.

Radella cricket ground despite being one of the most scenic grounds in the world is not suitable for cricket matches of this standard. During the Pakistan/ Kenya match that was held there on Wednesday the ball regularly popped from a length when bowled from the pavilion end. Whilst the Kenyan coach didn't go as far as saying it was dangerous, he did think it was unacceptable for one-day cricket.

When the covers were removed from the Kurunegala pitch it was difficult to differentiate between the surface to be used and the rest of the square due to the amount of grass left on the wicket. When the South African coach, Anton Ferrira, enquired the whereabouts of the lawnmower and the possibility of its use, the match referee, Roger Wijesooriya, informed him that the pitch would not be cut. Commenting afterwards he said, "we don't mind bowling on it as we have the kind of attack to make use of it. However the wicket is not suitable for one-day cricket."

The South African manager said afterwards, "I'm very unhappy with the groundstaff in general, even though we didn't play, that wicket should have been cut at the beginning of the day."

The South Africans have had a tough time out here and have so far bowled only 12 overs. Their first match against Nepal was abandoned after incompetent groundstaff took 70 minutes to remove the covers. When the rain stopped at 3.50 pm the removal of the covers did not commence until 4.15 and was not finished by the 5.15 cut off time. Thus South Africans were left 13 overs short of the minimum 25 overs requirement for an official match. This farce could well be responsible for South Africa not qualifying for the Super League stages.

Commenting on the incident, Keke Dali, the South African manager, stated that he was, "very unhappy with the organisation at FTZ, it took 70 minutes to remove the covers and that's ridiculous."

At other grounds leaks in the covers have allowed water to soak onto the wickets. A leak at Kurunegala today was one factor in the umpire's decision to abandon the match. In Kandy and Matara similar leaks had led to delays or the abandonment of matches.

The fiercest criticism appears to have been reserved for the decision on no reserve days. The result of this will be a multitude of unfinished matches and an unrelenting travel schedule. A two-day break between matches would have allowed the completion of most rain-interrupted matches and given the players longer to recover from long journeys.

The South African management informed CRICINFO that they would be making an official complaint to the organising committee, stating that "there should definitely be reserve days. We have come all the way from South Africa to play cricket. The present situation is unfair on us."

The poor weather here in Sri Lanka is not an acceptable excuse for these problems. Even the common man in Colombo knows about the weather conditions which has changed in the last two years and that rain has become a common occurrence.

The official scoring has also been strewn with mistakes and inaccuracies. In the Kenya/ Pakistan game the Kenyan coach when adding up the official scorebook to send to their cricket board found that in reply to Kenya's 67 all out, Pakistan ended on 67-2 and thus had not actually won the match when the players came off. In this case the error would have made no difference to the result, in others it could.

Perhaps the most worrying is a aspect of all this is the growing perception amongst some, that the big test playing countries are being treated favourably, whilst the smaller cricketing nations are being treated as second class members of the ICC. The case of the Kenyans, who have had a raw deal so far, is illustrative.

They have had to endure almost non-stop travelling, poor pitches and inadequate practice facilities. On Saturday, two days before their most important group `C' game against Pakistan, their practice at Police Park was inexplicably cancelled and transferred to the indoor nets at NCC. A turf pitch was apparently unavailable! They could have been allowed to use practice pitches at the SSC and CCC after the Australians and South Africans.

In Radella they were forced to bat on an under prepared pitch and then in Kurunegala the groundsman prepared them a green top. When they arrived in Kandy their hotel was inexplicably re-arranged. To top it all they were expected to travel for one and half-hours for their practice session.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka, England, and Australia will play all their matches in the Colombo test grounds and have not much travelling to do.

Perhaps the Kenyans are unlucky. One suspects however that the organisers would rather make Kenya travel seven hours to Radella than Australia or England.

Whilst the rain may have admittedly caused massive problems and the hard work of many should be acknowledged, one can't help feeling that too much attention has been paid to the more visible aspects of the tournament, such as the opening ceremony and official functions, and too little on the pitches, covers, travelling logistics and scoring.