Over a half a dozen officials, including the officials of the two teams, waited eagerly for the arrival of a ground boy with the Duckworth Lewis forecasts, while the second session of the semi final of the inaugural Inter School Under-19 Twenty-20 tournament between Royal College and Mahinda College proceeded with the anticipation that there wouldn’t be any rain to stop the match until his arrival.

Finally, when the ground boy arrived at the stadium with the DL forecasts, faxed to a communication center from a distant location, the fate of the match was almost decided.

The clear skies helped the inaugural Inter School Under-19 Twenty-20 Tournament to be concluded without rain interruptions at Moratuwa on Saturday. But it could have caused confusion had the weather gods not been kind during the last week for Duckworth Lewis forecasts for at least three matches, including a semi final and the final of the T-20 tournament reached the ground well after several overs were bowled in the second innings of each match.

The ill-equipped Moratuwa stadium makes the work of calculators of DL forecasts difficult as it does not possess a fax machine, the minimum technical gadget needed for them to transmit the forecasts.

Currently, the Duckworth Lewis forecasts are done by several individuals. The demand for their services is such during the high season that it makes it difficult for them to be present in person at every match venue. The inability to provide a computer and a printer at many grounds forces them to do their work from a distant destination and fax the forecast to the ground. That has been the accepted method adopted by them to provide the forecasts ever since the system came into effect in local tournaments, according to a source close to them.

Moratuwa is just one of at least four premier grounds where this facility, a fax machine, is not available. It is learnt that Thurstan, DSS and Kadirana grounds, where premier matches are often played do not have this facility. At some grounds (for example NCC), this facility is not available on holidays as the office premises are closed on such dates. On such occasions and at places where there are no fax machines, the officials get the forecasts faxed to the closest available fax machine, which could be sometimes a ten minutes walk or in some cases a five to ten minutes drive from the match venue.

Technically, the second session of a match should be started only after the Duckworth Lewis forecast is handed to the officials of the two teams, irrespective of whether there is a probable threat of rain or not. Team officials of premier tournaments say that the second sessions of even premier matches have started without DL forecasts given to the teams on time due to technical difficulties. "When there had been power interruptions, the forecasters have travelled long distances to reach the grounds", one official said.

With regard to Moratuwa stadium, one could not be worried about the lack of this facility as even the authorities concerned have not shown the least interest to refurbish the scoreboard which is virtually posing life threatening dangers to scorers who use it regularly.