Practice match abandoned because of dangerous wicket

India's last chance of meaningful match practice before the first Test in Galle was scuppered today when the P. Saravanamuttu pitch was deemed unfit for play and the umpires were forced to abandon their three-day game against a Sri Lankan Board XI.

Play started on time, but after the first over, a maiden bowled by Dinusha Fernando, it immediately became clear that pitch would misbehave even more than on the two previous days, when players on both sides had been rapped on the gloves. Sourav Ganguly immediately declared the Indian first innings.

The Board XI though were not overly keen on risking the health of their players either - six of whom are in the 16-man squad for the Galle Test starting on Tuesday. A 15-minute discussion between coaches, captains and umpires ensued.

Indian coach John Wright wanted more middle practice for his team and the Sri Lankan coach was not averse to playing if the safety of the players could be assured. The umpires thus took the unusual decision to order the repair the pitch on the basis of "good faith."

The ground staff got to work. The offending patches were filled with clay, the pitch was watered and cut grass was rolled into the wicket. Strictly speaking the watering and rolling was illegal, but the umpires decision to allow it was rooted in common sense and within the spirit of the game.

Unfortunately, after four hours of hard labouring the pitch was still deemed unfit for play and the game was called of. The only chance of play was if both sides agreed to play only at one end, which had in fact been suggested yesterday by India, but rejected by the home side. In the end the Indian team practiced afterwards at the "safe" end.

Ironically, the P.Saravanamuttu Stadium was traditionally famous for having the best pitch in Sri Lanka, full of pace and true in bounce. It staged Sri Lanka's inaugural Test, but was eventually sidelined as the facilities fell behind those at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Premadasa International Stadium. Now, after the period of re-development, the facilities are acceptable, but the pitch is not.

Successful matches have been played at the ground this year against England and Paksitan A, but this incident may delay the return of Test cricket to the Tamil Union club. They had hoped to stage the Asian Test Championship game against Bangladesh later this year, but the ICC are now unlikely to look favourably on such a plan.

Sourav Ganguly was diplomatic afterwards: "It's little bit disappointing, but we had a day to bowl and day to bat and that's better than nothing. I got a good knock and so did the openers, but it would have been nice if the middle order had got going as well."

He brushed aside suggestions that the Indian would be going into the first Test under prepared: "Yes we've had just one practice game, but the conditions are pretty much similar to back at home so there shouldn't be a problem."

The Indian team now travels down to Galle tomorrow. Sri Lanka take a break on Saturday and travel south on Sunday.