Mix-up disrupts Pakistan training

Bob Woolmer arrives at the ground to find the pitch already being used © AFP

Pakistan's preparations for their one-day series against Sri Lanka were disrupted after the ground they had planned to use for middle practice was booked for another game.

The side nets at the Colombo Cricket Club had been reserved for the Pakistan squad, but they wanted to use the main pitch as they step up their training ahead of the series. The management tried to persuade Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to stop the game, but were unsuccessful so the players returned to the hotel.

"We went to the ground as scheduled in the morning but found out some others were using it and we had no other alternative but to return to the hotel," the team manager, Zaheer Abbas, told AFP. "After we contacted SLC we were given a different venue to practice in the afternoon."

However, the mix-up did not appear to frustrate the players too much. While they hung around for about 40 minutes some of them, including the bowling coach Waqar Younis, sent down a few deliveries for the locals.

SLC officials said the inconvenience was caused by miscommunication. "We had earlier allocated the side nets for the Pakistan team, but subsequently they requested for the centre wickets and we couldn't arrange that at the last moment."

The first one-day international is on March 17 and the three-match series is then followed by two Tests.