World cricket boss Percy Sonn said on Sunday he was disappointed at South Africa’s decision to abandon the tour of Sri Lanka for security reasons, but declined to impose sanctions on the Proteas.
”I am deeply disappointed at their decision to go home,” Sonn, a South African lawyer who heads the International Cricket Council (ICC), told a media conference in the Sri Lankan capital.
South Africa last week cancelled a limited-overs tri-series against India and Sri Lanka following a blast close to their team hotel on August 10 that killed seven people and wounded eight.
Cricket South Africa said the decision to pull out was based on reports from its own security officials and an ICC-commissioned independent assessment that ruled that ”the current risk to the team in Colombo was at an unacceptable level”.
India, however, decided to stay on in Sri Lanka to play three one-dayers against the hosts in lieu of the cancelled tri-series following increased security and positive assurances from New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in Colombo.
”South Africa withdrew for reasons that had nothing to do with cricket,” said Sonn, who took over as ICC chief last month from Pakistan’s Ehsan Mani. ”That is not the spirit of cricket, which says the game must go on in most circumstances. The cricketers are there to play the game and bring joy to millions of cricket fans around the world.”
Sonn, in Colombo at the invitation of Sri Lanka Cricket, however said the governing body was not going to impose sanctions on the South Africans.
”We live in an imperfect world,” he said. ”Security is a sensitive issue and each team has to make a judgement. But it is not for the ICC to judge off-hand whether the South Africans were right or wrong in pulling out.
”We have a process at the ICC by which the South Africans must sort out with the Sri Lankans if, and when and where, the tri-series can be played again.
”Both boards have a good relationship and I am certain the issue will be thrashed out soon. Only if the two countries are unable to arrive at a solution will the ICC step in. Since I will be the arbitrator then, it is not for me to say now what will happen in the future.”
South Africa played a two-Test series in Sri Lanka earlier on the tour without incident. The home team won both matches against the tourists who were without captain Graeme Smith and all-rounder Jacques Kallis due to injuries.
It was not the first time a foreign cricket team had withdrawn from Sri Lanka over security fears.
New Zealand abandoned their tour in 1987 after an explosion in Colombo’s Pettah district, which houses the main bus and train stations, killed 110 civilians and two police officers.
The New Zealanders suffered another shock in 1992 when a blast outside their team hotel in Colombo killed the country’s naval chief, Clancy Fernando. However, they went ahead with their two Test matches and three one-dayers.
Australia and the West Indies refused to play their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka in 1996 when a powerful bomb in downtown Colombo, blamed on rebel Tamil Tigers, killed 91 and wounded 1 400 a few days before the tournament. — Sapa-AFP