Galle's spirited groundstaff

[nballa]

for saving us from this yawn fest. i only hope you continue pouring for the next couple of months till you wash away all thoughts of another ind SL fixture and save the game of cricket.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Even with today's washout there is still enuff time for a result. but we will most likely see two teams scoring 500 or some boring **** like that. so i hope the rain washes off the next day or two

[ZodiaC]

Worlds most boring test series interrupted by rain, wonderful.

[Rajiv]

pussy, I was hoping to see cricket..fk the rain

[nballa]

Worlds most boring test series interrupted by rain' date=' wonderful.[/quote'] i'm afraid we are way beyond the point of boring and entering the realm of torture.

[DomainK]

pussy' date=' I was hoping to see cricket..fk the rain[/quote'] Precisely.

[Texy]

why the fk do they schedule this in the middle of monsoon??? looks like rain will b there thru the series.... this is completely bs ..... SL board should be punished for literally taking test cricket interest out of general public

[DomainK]

why the fk do they schedule this in the middle of monsoon??? looks like rain will b there thru the series.... this is completely bs ..... SL board should be punished for literally taking test cricket interest out of general public

Thats what I was wondering about before the series started. It's the wrong time to be playing cricket in the subcontinent.

[King]

Although I back India, it was awesome to watch Sanga bat though. He looked good for a triple. Sublime timing and his shots against the spin through off side were awesome.

[Sachinism]

I agree man, even though I love cricket and will usually make time to watch it, Ind-SL are really putting me off cricket

[Guest Gunner]

Al humdilulah for the rain, one more day of SL batting would have been intolerable.

[achilles]

for saving us from this yawn fest. i only hope you continue pouring for the next couple of months till you wash away all thoughts of another ind SL fixture and save the game of cricket.

BCCI should host all Ind-SL fixtures at Chepauk and M.Chinaswamy stadiums, with their epic preciseness, so that all Ind-SL games get washed away.

[Nova]

Galle's spirited groundstaff When yet another shower lashed the Galle International Stadium at 2.15pm, even though the Indian bowlers would have been relieved, it was a cruel heartbreak for the groundsmen who had worked hard to get the ground ready - despite heavy showers at consistent intervals - for a 2.30pm inspection and a possible 3pm start. If ever a ground was going to have any action after torrential rains, both overnight and during the day, it is Galle. What they lack in drainage facilities, the groundsmen here make up for with a massive human effort, acumen and anticipation. They work on the principle of not letting the ground get wet in the first place. On match days, around 150 people work under Jayananda Warnaweera, former offspinner and the chief groundsman. At times Warnaweera gets assistance from inmates from the nearby Boosa detention camp, who are watched over by special security guards as they go about their work. In Warnaweera they have a leader who puts his heart and soul into maintaining the ground, his ground. It’s his home, he says. He is found here more often than at his house. When the tsunami swept the ground in 2004, it took away all the hard work he had put into maintaining it. The fish tank outside the ground, the model of a hand rickshaw, and other artefacts he had personally got here, were gone. He was at the forefront when the stadium was rebuilt after the devastation. During a Test match, he hardly goes home. On the first day of this Test, which began with the felicitation of the retiring Muttiah Muralitharan, Warnaweera was dressed in a shirt, trousers, tie and a sunhat. In the third session, when rain arrived, the suit gave way to a t-shirt and a lungi as he worked along with his men, long after everybody was gone. On the afternoon before the match, in bright sunshine he sent MS Dhoni, who was waiting for his turns at the nets, off the ground, saying rain is expected. Around 10 minutes later, Dhoni was halfway through the captain’s pre-match press conference when it started pouring. The ground had been fully covered by then. That’s how well Warnaweera knows the conditions. Had he acted 10 minutes later, we would have lost perhaps the whole first session on the first day. Instead the game started just half-an-hour late. Even during the day’s play, by the time it started raining heavily, the army of groundsmen had charged onto the ground and had covered half of it already. This is perhaps the only ground in the world that is covered in its entirety when it rains. Heavy truck tyres keep those covers from getting blown away in the strong wind. After the end of the first day, a tired Warnaweera made his way back to his office well after the journalists had finished filing their stories. When asked if we had lost the first session of the second day, he said “no”. He had incredible confidence in the hard work of his men, but rains put paid to the optimism. It was a near-miracle that within 15-20 minutes of the first sighting of the sun, stumps were being erected and the umpires were looking positive. Suddenly then the clouds opened up again, forcing the spirited groundsmen to bring on the covers yet again, and that no amount of hard work can fight against. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/tourdiaries/archives/2010/07/guarding_agains.php :hatsoff: to the groundsmen...

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Nova]

^ I remember posting in a thread where Marirs asked the same thing....here it is: http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=182395

[putrevus]

I had asked this question yrs ago and it is great to see Galle covering the entire ground which is a no-brainer according to me. I just dont undertand why all grounds dont do this.

I think the reason they dont do it because where and how will they drain the water which is on covers and what happens if there is leakage in covers. The best alternative is have what lords has great drainage system.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[The Outsider]

One ordinary day in perfect batting conditions and supporters of the number 1 team are left begging for rain. Really, we are en excellent test match side. There is no reason we can't clean up Sri Lanka for less than 400. A lot of time has been taken out of the test, but matches at Galle can progress at breakneck speed towards the end. The pitch was assisting spin throughout the day and you could see the odd puff of dust coming out even after 50 overs on the pitch. If any team aims to play for a draw for the remaining 3 days, it could turn out to be a disaster for it, provided the weather stays away. India should look to build pressure on Sri Lanka and at least build a psychological advantage before the next test.

[Lord]

One ordinary day in perfect batting conditions and supporters of the number 1 team are left begging for rain. Really, we are en excellent test match side. There is no reason we can't clean up Sri Lanka for less than 400. A lot of time has been taken out of the test, but matches at Galle can progress at breakneck speed towards the end. The pitch was assisting spin throughout the day and you could see the odd puff of dust coming out even after 50 overs on the pitch. If any team aims to play for a draw for the remaining 3 days, it could turn out to be a disaster for it, provided the weather stays away. India should look to build pressure on Sri Lanka and at least build a psychological advantage before the next test.

even if we get them for 400 in mid-lunch session,we would need another 3 sessions to match that,let alne get a lead.that would mean only 4 session n we cant win frm there unless SL collapse(highly unlikely with this pathetic attack) only SL hv a realistic chance of winning now.they would look to score 500 n bat us out.we must slow them down

[Jersey #10]

I was recently starting to "like" test cricket and then this happens. God save me Some are still hoping for a result :rotfl: