File photo of Mahela Jayawardene. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene expressed frustration on the abandonment of their fourth One-Day International against Australia, according to ESPNCricinfo.
The match was called off due to rain with Sri Lanka at 14 for no loss, chasing a target of 223.
Jayawardene recalled his team playing New Zealand at Pallekele in Sri Lanka in worse conditions and said it was surprising that the well-equipped Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) was unable to sustain the remaining match.
“We played New Zealand three months ago and the interpretation we got in that series was quite different to what we got today,” said Jayawardene. “I think we need to find a bit more consistency, so that’s something we’ll probably write and put across to them [the ICC] and see how we can go about it.
“At the SCG, I would assume that a ground of this magnitude you should be able to get a game in. Maybe they should do what we do back home and cover the entire ground.”
The captain said his team would write to the ICC match referee Javagal Srinath, seeking explanation for an inconsistency in rulings from one series to the next. Srinath had explained that play would not resume because he and the umpires Paul Reiffel and Marais Erasmus felt conditions were ‘unfair’, whereas in Sri Lanka, the match referee Andy Pycroft had said play would only be stopped if he deemed it ‘unsafe’.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Michael Clarke said he was disappointed at losing a chance to win the series.
“We certainly wanted to play to give ourselves a chance to win the series,” said Clarke. “Unfortunately we can’t win the series now, we can only level it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ