Sri Lanka suspend schools' cricket

The on-going schools cricket season in Sri Lanka has been thrown into chaos as a result of the government imposing an indefinite ban on all school sports because of an escalation in the on-going war in the north against the Tamil Tigers.

The ban came into effect on Wednesday when an education ministry circular announced an indefinite cessation in all school competitions. Almost immediately the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association postponed all matches. The final of the Under-13 tournament scheduled to be held at weekend will be the first casualty.

The move followed a suicide bombing at the Fort Railway station in the heart of Colombo which killed several students and the coach of DS Senanayake College baseball team.

This ban will seriously affect the on-going schools cricket season and also the major matches of leading schools in Colombo, including the oldest contest between Royal and St. Thomas', St. Peter's and St Joseph's, and Ananda and Nalanda, which are scheduled to be played next month. The period January to first week of April is the height of the school cricket season with more than 130 schools being involved in competition around the country.

The England Under-19 cricket team, which stayed back after the one-day triangular against Pakistan and Sri Lanka to play some practice matches, made a hasty departure ahead of schedule for Malaysia to take part in the Under-19 World Cup. According to the original schedule, they were not due to leave until February 9.

Sri Lanka Cricket's director of operations, Bandula Warnapura, stated: "I don't know the exact reasons why England left earlier than schedule. They wanted one of their practice games to be rescheduled for an earlier date and we obliged them. They however played the three practice games before departure."