da luck： Drop by drop, blade by blade, paving slab by paving slab, Galle’s beleaguered stadium is getting itself ready for the biggest opening night of its nine-year international history
da wazamba： Andrew Miller at Galle16-Dec-2007
Kevin Pietersen: ‘We know how much this country loves its cricket, and these people here I’m sure cannot wait to watch some cricket being played on that ground that was underwater © Getty Images
Drop by drop, blade by blade, paving slab by paving slab, Galle’sbeleaguered stadium is getting itself ready for the biggest openingnight of its nine-year international history. A mercifully rain-free dayallowed vital drainage work to continue ahead of Tuesday’s first Test,and though the outfield remains sodden in places, the grass seems moreeven than might have been expected 48 hours ago. The concourse too haschanged appearance significantly. Where on Friday there was thick mud,a vast blanket of gravel has now been laid – along with a forest ofpalm fronds to ensure that, at surface level at least, there is ameasure of normality about the situation.It doesn’t need much scratching beneath the surface to spot the swatheof issues that remain to be addressed, however. England’s morningtraining session was one of the more extraordinary they have everundertaken – reminiscent of their tour to Bangladesh in 2003-04, whenthey commuted daily through Dhaka’s monsoon to practise at thecountry’s only indoor nets facility. At least that building at theBKSB had been completed, however. At Galle, all that separated theplayers from a mass of wiring, scaffolding poles and plasterboard wasa thick plastic curtain that created a stiflingly humid environmentfor the players.And yet, nobody has bickered or questioned the extraordinarycircumstances of this game. England’s players, based in opulent blissat the famous Lighthouse hotel outside the city, are fully aware oftheir privileges as international cricketers, but also of theirresponsibilities to the morale of a region still in the throes ofrebuilding. Upwards of £2 million has been poured into the stadium’sreconstruction and still it is not back up and running. It doesn’tbear thinking about how those less fortunate have coped since thetsunami.”We’re not going to talk badly about the ground, we’re not going totalk negatively about anything that’s gone on, because of the simplefact of the catastrophe that happened three years back,” said KevinPietersen, who was watching the news at home in Nottingham on the daythe disaster struck. “We know how much this country loves its cricket,and these people here I’m sure cannot wait to watch some cricket beingplayed on that ground that was underwater. It’s a huge thing for us,and we can enjoy the experience. We’ll do everything we can to get thegame underway.”For all its problems of the present, Pietersen had words ofencouragement for the future of Galle’s new-look stadium. Thebrand-new white-brick pavilion and media facilities are undeniablyimpressive, even though their longevity is uncertain because of aplanning application row with the government. “In a year’s time or sixmonths’ time it’s going to be an absolutely gorgeous cricket ground,”said Pietersen, rightly oblivious to the political distractions. “It’sjust unfortunate it’s not yet as good as it’s going to be. Thedressing rooms are spectacular, up there with the best in the world.”Somewhere, buried deep beneath the symbolism of Tuesday’s occasion,there is an incredibly significant Test match waiting to get out – amatch that England must win to secure a drawn series and end theiryear on a high. Ironically, the adverse weather and awkwardpreparation seems certain to work in England’s favour, because aresult pitch is what they want if they are to take 20 Sri Lankanwickets for the first time this tour, and from the current lush-greenappearance, it could well be what they get.”It’s a huge game for us,” said Pietersen. “We’ve got to take it extraserious because we’re 1-0 down. At the moment the wicket looks a bitdamp, which could help the seamers, and there’s a lot of grass. Wecouldn’t ever play a Test match today, and we’d be pushed to playtomorrow, but if it doesn’t rain in the next 48 hours, I’ve spoken tothe groundsman, and he says it’s harder underneath.”Pietersen added that he has never been able to read pitches anyway,but if one thing is certain, Muttiah Muralitharan will manage toextract enough life out of the surface to make life difficult onceagain for England’s batsmen. Galle is Murali’s favourite venue of all – he’s picked up a massive 87 wickets in 11 previous appearances – and with 15 in the series so far, he remains the single biggest threat to England’s hopes of squaring the series.The guys have trained hard and practicedhard, and put in some serious effort I like to call it training the brain. You train your brain to prepare you for what’s to come, and then your instinct takes over. He really fizzes it at you at the start of your innings, but then he slows down and tries to make you do thingsKevin Pietersen on preparing for MuraliPietersen, however, was confident he and his team-mates were ready torepel his latest challenge. “The guys have trained hard and practicedhard, and put in some serious effort,” he said. “I like to call ittraining the brain. You train your brain to prepare you for what’s tocome, and then your instinct takes over. He really fizzes it at you atthe start of your innings, but then he slows down and tries to makeyou do things. The wickets at Kandy and Colombo were really slow andweren’t conducive to spin, but they should have been – this is hishome patch.”Doubtless Murali will remain a challenge until the day he finallyrests his aching shoulder, but Pietersen felt that the days when heused to bamboozle England were long over. “I looked the other day atESPN and I saw a load of wickets that Muralitharan has taken againstEngland before,” said Pietersen, referring to a re-run of Murali’sOval triumph in 1998. “Some of the shots that were played, some of thedismissals compared to the way our guys pick him now, were remarkable.They were totally clueless. The improvement has been 100%.”For Pietersen personally, the Galle Test is significant because he hasnever yet gone through a complete series without at least a fifty -and only against India in 2005-06 has he been denied a century. Therow over his controversial dismissal at Colombo made him, for 24hours, “a very angry man”, but now, he says, it is forgotten. Thereare much more significant matters at hand this week.”Certain things in life you can’t control,” said Pietersen. “Icouldn’t control what happened in the first innings in Colombo, and Icertainly don’t know if I can do anything about what wicket we get onTuesday. We’ve just got to deal with what we get, and be professionalabout it. We have to win this Test match to get on the plane next weekwith a 1-1 draw.”
