S Thawfeeq: Sri Lanka - Plans to upgrade Sara Stadium (2 Sep 1997)

Tuesday 02, September 1997

Sri Lanka: Plans to upgrade Sara Stadium

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

The Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club has made an appeal to the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka for a grant and a loan to upgrade the historic P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, which in recent years has been overlooked as an international venue because it lacks certain facilities.

The club has come out with a master plan to improve the stadium's infrastructure to once again make it viable for hosting international matches.

The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs. 25 million, and the club authorities are confident that with the help of the Cricket Board and its well-wishers, they will be able to raise that figure. International cricket at the Sara Stadium gradually ceased to be played there after vandals from the neighbourhood destroyed dressing rooms, conference areas, bar and office rooms and literally burnt every single piece of paper in July 1983.

Although the club was rebuilt and was operational within a few months, the proliferation of Test venues after the granting of Test status in 1981, and the existing facilities which are inadequate to cope with the modern demands, has resulted in the stadium being rejected as a venue for international matches.

The Cricket Board ExCo included Tamil Union in 1996, as one of its six `Venues of Excellence' in its master plan to develop identified cricket venues to stage international matches. The other venues being SSC, Asgiriya Stadium, R. Premadasa Stadium, Galle Stadium and Welagedera Stadium.

By doing so, the Cricket Board has a commitment on its part, to help upgrade the Sara Stadium to its former status, or if not to one better than what it was.

When Sri Lanka made its first attempt to obtain Test status, a pre-requisite was an international cricket stadium. The Sara Stadium, constructed by a former president of the Cricket Board, the late P. Saravanamuttu, was the only venue acceptable to international teams where international matches of any consequence could be played. The stadium having contributed largely to the country's elevation to Test status, it is now the duty of the Cricket Board to ensure the stadium is restored to its pristine glory.

Apart from providing sustenance to tbe Cricket Board for nearly 40 years, it is a ground which is internationally known and internationally loved by cricketers who have played on it since the balmy days of the game's greatest run machine, Sir Donald Bradman.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)