The third ODI finished a few minutes before midnight but that was far from the end of the production with Podcasts needing to be recorded and the real workers left with much to do before departure. After many years of touring I’m perfectly clear about who works hardest on outside broadcasts, and it’s not the broadcasters. Behind TalkSport’s commentary team are three men who put in double the hours of those whose voices you hear. Engineer Adam Reed is actually a highly social creature but you might not think so because you hardly see him. He departs for the venue before everyone else and is the last out. Producers Sal Ahmad and James Savundra aren’t far behind. On Wednesday night Sal and Adam wouldn’t have eaten for 14 hours had somebody not brought dinner to them, so devoted they were to ensuring the coverage was flawless. That depends, of course, on the men behind...
Play started eight hours after the TalkSport commentary team arrived at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium, the length of a standard ODI. But it didn’t feel like that, it felt like eighteen, such was the apparent futility and hopelessness of the situation. But when every tarpaulin cover was on the ground, not a single blade of grass on the entire playing surface was exposed to the rain and the 120+ ground staff are experts at dragging them all off, whilst barely spilling a drop. If it had been only the square and the run-ups which had been covered, the rest of the outfield would have been saturated and the match would have been abandoned. Criticism of the scheduling during monsoon season was answered by a statement from the ECB rather than Sri Lanka Cricket which has more important things on its corporate mind at the mind, like the ICC ACU’s...
Yet more rain. The monsoon season is supposed to be over, but seasons are fickle. The days move from hot and sunny, clear skies, to torrential downpours within half an hour.       At least it starts with a breakfast which is a delight. Described as ‘Full English†on the menu, it comes with a couple of twists. Starting with the fruit platter. Haven’t had many of these to kick of a Full English… and the large portion of salad which accompanied the eggs, bacon and sausage was also an outlier. Good, though. Excellent.    Despite the dried fish photo from Dambulla last week and today’s look at the fresh fish market on the outskirts of Kandy, I’m not a fish freak. But they are usually a good pointer towards the city’s infrastructure and provide a pointer towards how much care may be required when dining out. These guys all...
It’s only 70-or so kilometres from Dambulla to Kandy and Google maps said it should take ‘only’ an hour and 51 minutes to get there. The reality was two and a half hours. The scenery was always fascinating but watching it lurch past from inside the mini-bus, with frequent, sudden stops and wrenching accelerations doesn’t do much for the constitution.  We headed straight to Pallekelle International Stadium where I walked straight to the middle, as much to counter the travel sickness as to have a look at the wicket, as my job has required for over a decade. For once it was actually refreshing, briefly, to feel the heat of the sun and the ferocity of the humidity as last night’s rain was sucked brutally out of the ground. It was actually steaming in places.    Equally steaming was Jonny Bairstow who didn’t recognise me and obviously didn’t like...
You can visit Dambulla and not climb to the top of the Sigirya Rock and nobody will blame you for being a culural heathen. It’s a fair challenge for the less physically conditioned and the chances of being airlifted out in the event of a serious lack of fitness are remote. But most visitors make a fist of it and, happily, none of them died today. That we were aware of. Only five of the TalkSport team made it to the top. The climb up Lion’s Staircase isn’t for those with a fear of heights. It’s not for the impatient either. Lonely Planet’s guide suggests avoiding “midday and weekendâ€. We arrived at 12:00pm on Sunday. The Rock was formed some 3500 million years ago and the first signs of human habitation date back to 5000 years BC. It’s basically been tinkered with ever since, Buddhist monks building more –and less...
At the start of the second ODI the England supporters outnumbered the locals by about 10:1 but that gradually changed as the match wore on and by the time the monsoon rains returned it was close to the expected full house. Relief for the England fans that they had bought the ‘expensive’ tickets under the shelter of the grandstand. It may have been the heaviest downpour on tour so far, and they have been some strong contenders. Once again England showed the resilience and strength of the squad when things went awry. Heading for a minimum of 300 with Root (71) and Morgan (92) setting things up superbly for Stokes, Buttler and Moeen etc, they slipped to 218-6 and might well have folded for 240 in a different era. As it was, the total was way below par at 254-9 when the best number 10 in world cricket ensured something...
The weather, mercifully, is being kind and promises to remain so. But even if it does rain tomorrow afternoon and we can’t finish the game, we can do so on Sunday. Not a restart, just pick up from wherever we left off and finish it. A reserve day – but only for the weekend matches, not the two week day ones. Obviously week days are less important. We all know that. The mind boggles at the prospect of a nail-biting finish ending in a downpour and the teams reconvening at 9:45am on Sunday morning with 20 required from 11 balls with four wickets in hand. Contender for the shortest day of international cricket in history. But only a contender. There are several candidates. Dambulla is famous for its ‘Golden Temple’, or ‘Cave Temple’ as it is more commonly called. Golden because of the giant Buddha at the bottom of the...
A day off may be a ‘day off’ for some of the crew but the work never stops for others. Commentators might get the chance to explore the city but engineers are always worrying about wireless points and power-outages etc. So at least we can share some of the sights and sounds of the city with them while they’re stressing. Having grown tired of hearing how ‘quiet’ Dambullah was and how there was ‘nothing to do’. It was time to explore. It’s been over 10 years since my first visit and I’m sure I’ve never done it justice. I haven’t. Toasted sandwiches cost 900 rupees in our modest (but delightful) hotel. This morning I bought a delicious, freshly baked baguette with boiled egg, onion, carrot, tomato and a bit of fresh chili for 35 rupees. Both were good but the latter was far better. It’s too late in the night to do the conversion rates but you get the idea…...
The forecast had been bleak for a week before the opening game at the Dambulla Stadium and the portents were not good during a drizzly drive from Colombo to the only venue purposefully built in the island’s ‘dry-belt’ region enabling the national team to fulfill its international commitments during the monsoon season. Judging by the density of greenness of the vegetation surrounding the stadium, ‘dry-belt’ is a strictly relative term. Hotel breakfast is served outdoors under a thatched roof which looks and feels like the sun has set 15 minutes earlier given the darkness of the skies and the lighting. It doesn’t feel like 8:30 in the morning. If you don’t do eggs then it’s fruit or cereal. Fortunately the fruit is, as always, fresh and delicious and there is a lady chef who makes the best omelette in town. I assume. Chili omelette. Wakes you up. As did the...
If the rumours are true about Boland Park becoming home to the sixth team in the CSA’s new T20 competition are true, it will be a well deserved accolade. Bloemfontein has done nothing wrong in its efforts to remain in sixth place on the pecking order behind the five regular Test venues but Paarl has made massive strides to improve and impress. SAA’s decision to cut flights to the Free State capital has led to a feeling of isolation and concern amongst potential investors – like CSA. The new T20 league will be squeezed into a month – 30 matches in as many days. The logistics are frightening. The organisers will struggle to cope with one flight in and out per day. Boland Park has now proved three times that it has the infrastructure to handle international cricket with aplomb. Relying on a host of volunteers prepared to work an...