Sri Lanka Cricket officials have had to take precautionary steps to ensure the security of players after the tragic incidents which happened on Easter Sunday. As a first step, they called off the practice and bonding sessions which were scheduled to be held last week.
SLC is also paying special attention to the players’ safety in the upcoming World Cup which is to be held in England and Wales in June & July 2019.
ThePapare.com learns that, there are some concerns that the Sri Lanka Cricket team could be one of the major targets of terrorists. Therefore, SLC has requested that the ICC have a closer look at the security measures provided to the Sri Lankan players during the premier event. The squad and the support staff will leave for England on 7th of May.
Understandably, ICC has been asked to ramp up the security more than what they assured previously.
Talking to the ThePapare.Com, SLC CEO, Ashley de Silva said, “ICC has a good security plan for the World Cup but we have requested ICC to give more than they promised after the attacks on Easter Sunday. We are expecting a report on that from ICC”
SLC calls off World Cup preparation camps
Air Commodore Kanishka Kularatne who is in charge of Sri Lanka Cricket team’s security, has expressed that he has studied the 90-page report on the security plan for ICC CWC 2019, and raised questions regarding 3 aspects from the ICC.
“There has been reports that this attack was a retaliation for the one happened at Christchurch. So, we can’t take this lightly. ICC has already informed about this situation to the London Police as well”
A shrine frequented by cricketing community
“We remember what happened during the Champions’ Trophy 2017, there have been few reports on terrorists’ attacks and many other reports on various strikes. So, we can’t allow any risks. There could be problems from the diaspora in England as well, who are known for their attempts to derail Sri Lanka Cricket team’s mentality. We have reported all these issues to ICC, and they promised to be accountable”, Kularatne added.
Kularatne will not be part of the crew, leaving to England on March 7th and his responsibilities will be carried out by the Team manager, Asantha de Mel and Service Manager, Chandima Mapatuna.
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