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SLC President 'fed up' with PCB’s security measures

Silva believed that they would reassess their strategy regarding a future tour

SLC President 'fed up' with PCB’s security measures PHOTO: SLC

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Shammi Silva has stated that he was fed up of the security arrangements in Pakistan during the Islanders recently concluded limited-overs series tour against the Men in Green. The series ended when Sri Lanka completing a historic three-nil Twenty20 International (T20I) series whitewash against the number-one ranked Pakistan side.

Silva believed that they would reassess their strategy regarding a future tour featuring Test cricket in Pakistan.

“We have to reassess and see about Test matches,” Silva said according to Ceylon Today. “Players had to stay inside their hotel. I was there and though I stayed for 3-4 days, I got fed up (about it). We have to think about that and discuss with the players and support staff. We are playing the Test Championship and we want to do well in that too.”

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The SLC president stated that there were benefits to the tour but those were outweighed by the negatives that came along with the constant security confinement.

“Frankly in my opinion, it was good team bonding when they are staying in the hotel without their wives. Too much of freedom is also bad for the players,” he said. “But, they have to go out to do shopping, they have to eat somewhere, they have biological needs and all those things are there. They have to go out and see the world. They can’t stay inside the hotel.”

Meanwhile, SLC’s Chairman of Selectors Asantha de Mel claimed that a Test tour of Pakistan would not be an easy prospect.

“It’s not easy. Process of going and coming is long. These were short games just five days. We can’t go and play a Test without a practice game. So it will be at least 15 days travelling to the ground, which won’t be easy. They have to clear the roads, process of security arrangement takes long and then you aren’t allowed to move inside the bus,” explained de Mel.

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De Mel stated that Sri Lanka was indebted to Pakistan because of the help they provided during the hard times faced by the Islanders and believed more teams would eventually visit the country.

“We owed something to Pakistan because they are there for us, because they always helped us. We were willing to bear that up (security hassle), but the problem is how much we could bear. I heard security there is getting better. I don’t know because we were not allowed to go out, so maybe next year we might suddenly see Australia or England come and play,” he concluded.