The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Inter-Club Premier Limited Over (L/O)) cricket tournament, which had to be postponed twice due to the unexpected heavy rains during the last couple of months, will begin tomorrow (December 27).
However after three weeks of sunshine, Colombo and the suburbs are experiencing overcast conditions again just days away from the commencement of the Premier L/O cricket season. Ravi de Silva, the Chairman, Tournament Committee of SLC expressing his views on the twice postponed domestic cricket tournament told The Nation that the organisers are keen to proceed with the competition despite the unpredictable weather.
“The Premier L/O tournament was expected to begin in the first week of December but the weather conditions then prevented the commencement of the competition. We were compelled to postpone the tournament by two weeks but the ground conditions of few venues were not up to the standards we expected. The weather looked fine for the next few weeks but during the past few days the rains came down again to hamper the proceedings”.
“As at present the weather is not really supportive for cricket but we are really keen to go ahead with the tournament. We have no intention to postpone or delay the tournament for any reason now as we find it difficult to adjust with the timing left for the ICC Cricket World Cup which is also to be held in Sri Lanka as a co-host nation,” de Silva said.
With the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka cut short soon after a washed out 3-match Test series and a re-scheduled five-match One Day International series for January 2011 the much anticipated tournament which is the top in the club cricket calendar of SLC is expected to serve as a platform for Sri Lanka’s national cricketers’ preparations prior to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup in February 2011 as well.
This year’s Premier L/O tournament will proceed at a rapid pace in order to give room for the all important Inter-Provincial L/O tournament and the re-scheduled ODI series of the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka which will be played during the fourth week of January. The domestic tournament which begins tomorrow will end by January 9 with the finals of Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ at unconfirmed venues in Colombo. The matches of Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ are planned to a tight schedule with players finding hardly a space to breathe in-between.
“Before planning the L/O and League tournaments for the 2010/11 season we coordinated with the local Meteorology Department and studied its reports of the past five years. According to the survey never in history has Sri Lanka experienced a rainy season during this time of the year namely the first half of December. The tournaments were planned after carefully studying the weather patterns as it had to be completed before the ICC Cricket World Cup deadline. As at now it will be difficult to re-schedule the whole tournament again because of the current weather scenario. The competition has to go on despite whatever Mother Nature has in store for us,” de Silva added.
This year’s Premier L/O tournament will consist of 51 matches in two segments. The tournament will kick off with defending Premier L/O champions Tamil Union taking on the League champs and last season’s L/O runners-up Chilaw Marians at P Sara Oval with four other matches in Tier ‘A’ to be played in Colombo. Four Tier ‘B’ matches will also be played tomorrow.
Premier Tier A
Group A: Tamil Union, Chilaw Marians, CCC, NCC, Badureliya CC, Lankan CC
Group B: SSC, Colts, Bloomfield, Ragama CC, Saracens
Schedule:
| Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 27 | Tamil Union v Chilaw Marians | P Sara Oval |
| NCC v CCC | NCC | |
| Lankan CC v Badureliya CC | Moratuwa | |
| Colts v SSC | Colts | |
| Ragama CC v Bloomfield | Thurstan Complex | |
| Dec 30 | CCC v Tamil Union | CCC |
| Chilaw Marians v Lankan CC | Katunayake | |
| Badureliya CC v NCC | NCC | |
| Bloomfield v SSC | SSC | |
| Saracens v Colts | Colts | |
| Dec 31 | NCC v Tamil Union | NCC |
| Badureliya CC v Chilaw Marians | Panadura | |
| CCC v Lankan CC | CCC | |
| SSC v Ragama CC | SSC | |
| Saracens v Bloomfield | Reid Avenue | |
| JAN 02 | Tamil Union v Lankan CC | P Sara Oval |
| CCC v Badureliya CC | CCC | |
| NCC v Chilaw Marians | NCC | |
| SSC v Saracens | SSC | |
| Colts v Ragama CC | Colts | |
| JAN 04 | Tamil Union v Badureliya CC | P Sara Oval |
| Chilaw Marians v CCC | Katunayake | |
| Lankan CC v NCC | NCC | |
| Bloomfield v Colts | Reid Avenue | |
| Ragama CC v Saracens | Thurstan Complex |
Semi-finals:
Jan 6: Winner of Group A v Runner-up of Group B
Jan 7: Winner of Group B v Runner-up of Group A
Final: Jan 9
Premier Tier B
Group B: Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC, BRC, Singha SC, Antonian SC, Army SC
Schedule:
| Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 27 | Police SC v Panadura SC | Police Park |
| Navy SC v Air Force SC | Welisara | |
| BRC v Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC | BRC | |
| Antonian SC v Singha SC | Kadirana | |
| Dec 30 | Panadura SC v Air Force SC | Panadura |
| Moors SC v Police SC | Braybrooke Place | |
| Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC v Singha SC | Thurstan Complex | |
| BRC v Army SC | BRC | |
| Dec 31 | Singha SC v Army SC | Panagoda |
| Panadura SC v Navy SC | Welisara | |
| Air Force SC v Moors SC | Braybrooke Place | |
| Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC v Antonian SC | Thurstan Complex | |
| JAN 02 | Moors SC v Panadura SC | Braybrooke Place |
| Police SC v Navy SC | Police Park | |
| Army SC v Seeduwa/Raddoluwa CC | Panagoda | |
| Antonian SC v BRC | BRC | |
| JAN 04 | Air Force SC v Police SC | Rifle Green |
| Navy SC v Moors SC | Welisara | |
| Singha SC v BRC | BRC | |
| Army SC v Antonian SC | Panagoda |
Semi-finals:
Jan 6: Winner of Group A v Runner-up of Group B
Jan 7: Winner of Group B v Runner-up of Group A
Final: Jan 9
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