The Sri Lankan cricket side apparently threatened to boycott Monday night’s crunch World Cup game against South Africa if an appeal lodged with the International Cricket Council was not upheld.
A source revealed that the Sri Lankans made the threat this past weekend because they were unhappy with the ICC’s interpretation of the rules governing qualification for the next round of the competition.
However, even before the ICC’s technical committee rejected Sri Lanka’s appeal on Sunday night, the 1996 champions had evidently climbed down from that threat.
An ICC representative, though, denied any knowledge of the threat. ”I know nothing about that,” said Mark Harrison, the ICC media manager.
Sri Lanka and fellow Pool B contestants Kenya both made an application to the technical committee. Both team’s applications were turned down but only the Sri Lankans appealed the decision. Kenya decided against appealing after qualifying for the Super Sixes by virtue of a win over Bangladesh at the Wanderers.
The East Africans wanted New Zealand to be punished further because, by winning their fixture by forfeit and been awarded four points in the process, they were denied the opportunity to improve their net run rate.
Sri Lanka’s application, according Harrison, was rather more complex. ”The focus of the Sri Lanka appeal is that they disagree with the ICC’s criteria for qualification for the Super Sixes,” he said on Sunday.
”They feel that four teams are going to finish on the same amount of points in Pool B. If that’s the case, qualification for the third team should be determined by which team won the encounter between the third and fourth placed sides, as opposed to net run rate.”
Only three teams progress to the next round and, if South Africa beats Sri Lanka at Kingsmead, the Asians will be up against New Zealand for the third qualifying spot.
Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in their opening match last month in Bloemfontein. A member of the South African camp, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that the threat indicated that the Sri Lankans are ”really worried” about Monday’s match.
The Sri Lankans were singularly unimpressive against South Africa earlier this summer, losing both the Test and limited overs series. They have met with more success this visit, defeating both New Zealand and the West Indies — two sides that have already beaten South Africa. – Sapa