Smile for the cameras

The crowds for this tournament have been non-existent, even for Sri Lanka’s matches, but at least the semi-finals and final should have a few more people taking notice of the action as the games are being beamed around the world. Today the Premadasa Stadium was getting the finishing touches as it prepares to host the first semi-final – England against India – a day/night match tomorrow. The ground certainly has a different feel than the others used in the tournament.

Camera gantries have been put up at either end of the ground, the locked-off cameras are in position for those close run-out or stumping appeals and the production crew has hit town. And whereas the other grounds had all their advertising covered with huge black sheets, creating a rather bland scene, the Premadasa is fully emblazoned with the official sponsors of the World Cup. It isn’t to the taste of everyone, but at least it feels like a significant match is being played.

Now all that is needed are the commentators, who have been arriving over the last few days and include household names like Paul Allott and Robin Jackman. They’ll have to have done their homework because the players on show over the last few days of this tournament are not household names – yet.

For the players, having these matches shown around the world is a huge moment. It is their chance to shown millions of people (at least that’s the figure being hoped for) what they are capable of. As Steve Mullaney, the England allrounder, told me recently: “People will take notice of what they see on TV, it is really important for us to perform well as it is how they will remember us.”

Towards the end of today’s Ireland-New Zealand clash there was one minor problem – the power went off. Apparently they had decided to test the generators and back-up systems to ensure they would be ready for the semi-final. But, perhaps it wasn’t the best moment with a match going on at the time. No power creates a two-fold problem; firstly the press box becomes a sauna – it is the only enclosed media centre of the tournament and with the sun beating through the windows, and humidity increasing, it turns into a human greenhouse. The second issue is filing, as all the wonderful technology that makes the job run smoothly doesn’t work well without power. Today we were told it was an ‘external issue’ and in a typically Sri Lankan way no one seemed overly concerned by the situation.

But it’s best to get any teething problems out of the way before the main event. By the end of tomorrow one team will be in the World Cup final, the other sampling the feeling that they came so near, yet so far. However, at least they’ll have had a chance to show the world their talents – that’s so long as no one pulls the plug out.