New Zealand cricket executives were faced with the tough decision on Wednesday of whether to call off the tour by Sri Lanka as the full horror of the Asian tsunami devastation emerged.
Several players were directly affected by the disaster, although none had immediate family killed, as the tsunami claimed at least 17 800 people’s lives in Sri Lanka and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
The immediate decision following the humanitarian disaster was to postpone one game and allow the tourists a five-day mourning period, but Sri Lankan cricket president Mohan de Silva has since been quoted as saying his players want out of the tour completely.
Under International Cricket Council rules, the Sri Lankans face a substantial $2-million fine if they quit the series without New Zealand’s blessing.
With Sri Lanka in a national state of emergency and the players clearly not focused on cricket, there are grounds to reschedule the tour and a New Zealand Cricket spokesperson said chief executive Martin Snedden is in regular contact with Sri Lankan authorities.
Sri Lankan team manager Brendon Kuruppu would not name the players directly affected by the tsunami, but it is understood pace bowlers Nuwan Zoysa and Dilhara Fernando lost relatives, while the mothers of Sanath Jayasuriya and leg spinner Upul Chandana were both injured.
Jayasuriya’s mother was taken to hospital but has been discharged.
The tourists cancelled training for a second consecutive day on Tuesday and were not giving interviews.
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming met some of the Sri Lankans at their hotel on Tuesday night, and a letter of sympathy signed by the New Zealand team was delivered.
If the tour does continue, the second one-day international is now set to take place on January 11 at Queenstown.
Scheduled matches in Christchurch on January 4 and Wellington on January 8 will follow, with the Napier match, originally set for December 29, put back to January 11.
A two-Test series due to open in Hamilton on January 15 will likely be pushed back several days to accommodate a warm-up match beforehand, New Zealand Cricket officials said.
New Zealand won the first one-day match in Auckland on Sunday by seven wickets. — Sapa-AFP