Rain may drive Asia Cup matches out of Colombo
Wet climate may additional impression the Asia Cup schedule with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) contemplating shifting video games within the Super Four spherical away from Colombo. Officials from Sri Lanka Cricket and the PCB have confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that they’re different venues in Sri Lanka the place comparatively drier climate is forecast.
Although this isn’t the monsoon season in Sri Lanka, Colombo has had heavy rain in the previous few days, resulting in flooding in components of the northern reaches of the town, not removed from the place the Khettarama Stadium is positioned.
September is commonly not an particularly wet month in Colombo because the northeast monsoon typically begins in October. Since 2015, the Khettarama floor, which is scheduled to host 5 Super Four video games and the ultimate between the sixth and seventeenth, has staged 5 males’s T20Is and 4 males’s ODIs within the month of September. All of these matches have been accomplished and solely two have been rain-reduced.
It will not be clear to what extent event organisers have consulted with Sri Lanka’s meteorologists. Officials ESPNcricinfo talked to couldn’t give specifics as to what sort of climate was anticipated in Colombo over the approaching weeks. It is as a substitute the washing out of the marquee India-Pakistan match that has raised alarm.
If matches are moved out of Colombo, another venue can also be a difficulty. Dambulla had been instructed as an choice, however it’s understood India haven’t been glad with resort and lodging amenities there, whereas SLC officers declare there may be work ongoing on the stadium floodlights – a long-standing problem the board has apparently not appropriately mounted. Dambulla lies in Sri Lanka’s “dry zone” and as such receives considerably much less rainfall than each Kandy and Colombo right now of yr.
Hambantota, which can also be on the border of the dry and moist zones, could possibly be an alternative choice. But that stadium is basically positioned on the sides of a jungle and there aren’t any close-by lodging choices. It can be a logistical problem for SLC if matches are moved there.
Broadcasters are additionally understood to be reluctant to separate the remaining video games throughout two venues, as a result of it could both contain transporting tools forwards and backwards by street, or sustaining broadcasting infrastructure at two separate areas in Sri Lanka.
If some or all matches are moved away from Colombo, it can additional impression a event already beset by scheduling challenges. Pakistan are the event’s official hosts, however India’s refusal to play there has meant a number of groups shuttling forwards and backwards between the 2 nations.
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