The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Limping back from the horrors of the tsunami

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 05, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Limping back from the horrors of the tsunami

S. Ram Mahesh

GALLE: It's a moment frozen in time. The hour hand of the clock at the Galle International Stadium has paused between nine and ten, while the minute hand hovers close to six. 9:26 am, December 26, 2004. Harrow Eleven are to take on Southern Province. The match is scheduled to start at ten, but the teams agree to begin an hour earlier.

The umpires, however, are not informed and in the mix-up they decide to split the hour of contention and commence at 9:30 am. Players warm up near the clubhouse, while umpire Nishantha Kumara changes into his white coat. "I came at 9:15 and was changing gear when I heard screaming," says Kumara. "Both teams were rushing into the clubhouse — about 40 kids and parents — and some tried to climb onto the roof."

A giant watery finger sweeps around the Galle fort and into the indoor nets facility where the clock control unit is located and turns it off. Time stops.

"Thank god the match hadn't started," says Jayananda Warnaweera, Secretary, Southern Province Cricket Association (SPCA) headquartered at the Galle International Stadium. "Otherwise, third-man or fine-leg would have gone and the story would have been different."

Lucky survivor

Warnaweera was lucky to survive. He had gone to buy fruits for the foundation stone laying ceremony the next day. "I turned my car around and went into the countryside when I saw water coming in," says the former Sri Lankan off-spinner. "But I was in the clubhouse at twelve when the second bad wave hit. The water levels reached 30 to 40 feet."

The stadium, formerly known as the Esplanade, seems to have recovered. Except for a mound of debris — tyres, wire mesh, spat-out chairs — between the press box and the indoor nets facility, the square and outfield contrast with the sights we see on our way.

"STOP! HELP US SURVIVE OURSELVES" says a sign next to rubble on the road to Galle; another provides a contact number to call and pledge. But step on the field and the coarse grass and undulating surface tell a different story. "The whole surface has gone," says Warnaweera. The saline water had affected the growth of grass and despite levelling the ground once, it remains a far cry from international standards.

But the SPCA has decided to reconstruct and first class matches will begin in a year. "Basically, we are going to redo the drain system, the sprinklers, dig up the turf and raise the level by four to five inches.

By August 8, we are going to rebuild the wire mesh so not everyone can access the ground." Scheduled to begin in two to three days is work on the clubhouse and media centre.

Needs money

"But the biggest problem is money," says Warnaweera. "We need about $5 million. World Vision has pledged $1 million from the proceeds of the tsunami match. Shane Warne has also pledged $1 million, but we haven't got a reply from him. Sony Max has paid us a bit in accordance with our agreement and they will pay us another half million.

Already, the Galle CC Eleven has started practising. They have also been given the centre wicket because the practice pitches were damaged. "Isn't it exciting?" asks Karl Steinberg of the Galle Fort Hotel, which is beginning to get booked out again.

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