HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka, CMC – The One-Day International series between Sri Lanka and West Indies was abandoned yesterday, hours before the first game was scheduled to begin here at the Suriyawewa Stadium.
Persistent heavy rain wiped out any chance of the encounter being played and Sri Lanka Cricket, the game’s governing body here, took the decision to postpone the series until January. West Indies are scheduled to fly home today.
“The ongoing West Indies tour which was drawn in 2005-2012 according to the ICC Future tour programme has been postponed to late January 2011 due to inclement weather conditions that has prevailed in the country lately,” a statement from Sri Lanka Cricket Board read.“The above decision was taken with the mutual understanding of both cricket boards (West Indies cricket Board and SLC) and our television partners.”
The postponement is the latest twist in the saga that began Wednesday, when it was reported that the five-match series would be abandoned because of the persistent rain. Adverse weather had wrecked the preceding three-Test series, forcing a nil-all stalemate and it also ruined the build-up to the one-dayers with neither team being able to practice.
But Sri Lankan cricket officials denied the series had been postponed and the WICB subsequently informed that the series would go ahead as planned. According to Sri Lanka Cricket spokesman Brian Thomas, the series will now be played starting in the third week of January. There still has been no word from the WICB.
The unusually bad weather has reportedly resulted in the death of six people and has left over 100 000 homeless, with more rains forecast for the coming weeks.
In Sri Lanka, the two main monsoon seasons run from May to September and from December to February
