Jitters of a so-called second wave of the coronavirus and the cancellation or postponement of three international tours have raised questions on weather Sri Lanka Cricket has done enough to entice at least one foreign team to tour the island despite hopes of a revival.
South Africa, India and Bangladesh have all shut the door on Sri Lanka with even the Asia Cup called off while England which was one of the most badly hit European nations to suffer thousands of pandemic deaths has recommenced international cricket.
Sri Lanka has been waiting for something to happen as far as a bilateral home series is concerned although showing more interest in hosting the money-making Indian Premier League (IPL) which could not get off the ground due to the pandemic in the sub-continent.
But Sri Lanka Cricket says it did everything possible from its end to keep afloat the team and the drawback was solely due to governing matters “at the other end”.
“The (Sri Lanka) team is in good shape training and practicing at their clubs and we are prepared to play an international series even tomorrow. It is just that all countries (like India and Bangladesh) have got different government protocols to follow and the situations there have not been conducive” said Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Ashley de Silva.
Bangladesh’s three-Test tour of Sri Lanka was the most important series as it was part of the ICC World Test championship ranking.
Sri Lanka Cricket had even decided to open out venues to 20 percent spectators by printing a limited number of tickets to be sold on a first come first serve basis but hopes further diminished when September’s Asia Cup was called off.
Critics argue that no matter what Sri Lankans have to say or boast of, the reality is that the country finds it difficult to showcase anything to the world to convince teams or the international media.