by Ravi Nagahawatte
The on and off curfew, which is part and parcel of post election activities, might pose problems in conducting the Tri-Nation Limited overs Cricket Tournament, which doesn’t provide for cancellation of matches.

The tournament commences today, with hosts Sri Lanka taking on Zimbabwe at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds this morning. The limited overs series also features the West Indies.

The media manager of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka told ‘The Island’ that if the conduct of a match is threatened by an unexpected curfew, a verdict on the game will be given after consultation between the match referee and the BCCSL.

The media manager further said that, though he doesn’t expect the current situation in the country to have an impact on the tournament, he has been in touch with the authorities handling security at the matches.

He added that, however, the tournament rules only provided for stoppages caused by bad weather.

Ricky Skerrit, manager of the West Indies cricket team, when contacted, said that the team was here to play cricket and were not concerned about election-related violence.

"We knew about the election before we came here. We won’t be bothered about these incidents of violence as we don’t think any of it will be directed at us", he said.

Asked for his comments on former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga taking to politics he had this to say:

"We respect him for the cricket he played, not politics. Anyway we wish him well in whatever he undertakes", said Skerrit.

Babu Menon, manager of the Zimbabwe cricket team, said that the elections hadn’t affected the team’s preparations in anyway.