Rain forces shift of warm-up matches from Pallekele

Pallekele has been plagued by rain since the West Indies tour in December © Associated Press Enlarge

The ICC has decided to move the two World Cup warm-up matches that were scheduled to take place in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, because of persistent, heavy rains that have hampered the preparation of the pitches. The decision was made following a recommendation from ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson, who inspected the venue today.

Pallekele was supposed to host the games between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands on February 12 and Kenya and the Netherlands on February 15. A new location will be announced shortly.

"The groundstaff at Pallekele have had to contend with an extremely high volume of rainfall over a number of weeks, far in excess of what is normal for this time of year," tournament director Prof. Ratnakar Shetty said in a statement. "This has proved to be a significant handicap in their efforts to produce pitches for the forthcoming warm-up matches.

"The decision to switch the warm-up matches away from Pallekele is common sense, and is one that is fully supported by all stakeholders as it will allow the groundstaff the time they need, following those recent heavy rains, to produce excellent pitches for the tournament matches that will take place there."

Pallekele is scheduled to host three matches in the tournament proper, beginning with the game between New Zealand and Pakistan on March 8. The other two games are Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe on March 10 and Pakistan v Zimbabwe on March 12. The decision to move the warm-up games does not affect the hosting of these matches.