All set for smooth functioning of T20

It's summer time in England with the weather nice and warm and it reminds one of that perennial - Oh, to be in England drinking English beer-sung by Sri Lanka's own Bill Forbes which was a hit in the early sixties. Forbes is now domiciled in England.

While doing this column I was in the company of two other Old Peterites in Collin Fernando and Cassim Jaleel. Forbes too was a Peterite and we immediately broke into singing this great hit drinking English beer and munching Blueberry Muffins served by Collin.

At the time of writing,I am just back after collecting my media card from the Danibius Hotel which is just past the Lord's Cricket Ground at St. John's Wood.

England is not cheap and I had to change Tubes from three underground stations to get to the media card collecting centre and came back switching to two buses.

I also visited the media centre at Lord's which is state-of-the-art and must be seen to be believed. When will Sri Lanka ever have a media box of such magnitude? The lift takes one to the media box and one does not have to huff and puff getting to the top like at the SSC back home.

The International Cricket Council has left no stone unturned to see to the smooth and successful functioning of its Twenty20 World Cup. This game has created tremendous interest and big crowds are expected at all three venues - Lord's, Kennington Oval and Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

No room has been left for any security lapses. The ICC has laid special emphasis and given security top priority. They are taking no chances and would not want another Lahore where the Sri Lankan cricketers were targeted.

The ICC has put out a eye-catching and very interesting souvenir like they did for the World Cup in the Caribbean. It gives pen pictures and the form of all teams taking part and provides all information required. It is a must for everyone. There is also a variety of merchandise on sale.

All 12 teams are here and are frightfully keen on winning this Second Edition. Teams have been experimenting in the warm-up games, studying and analyzing the form and are determined to have the best men on the field when tournament starting time came around. Everyone is hoping that the weather here that is known to be fickle would not continue. This style of game was specially invented to see that the turnstiles would be creaking for oil and bringing back the spectators that were dwindling from the established game - Test cricket.

It is paramount for good weather to prevail and not spoil any of the games. Also if it rains, it would be an ugly aspect to see Duckworth and Lewis too getting into the game and being the ultimate deciders.

True that no one can control the weather. If games have to be won and lost on the Duckworth/Lewis system it would be galling to the teams that would be affected and it will kill all interest.

So everyone here, although it is summer, is praying that the weather gods would be interested spectators and allow the games to go the full distance.

Scotland who have been improving their game and who are determined to leave their marm in this World Cup Twenty20, suffered a setback when their promising fast man John Blain decamped on the eve of their warm-up game against England on Wednesday.

This sad note was struck, allegedly after the fast bowler had a furious bust-up with his skipper Gavin Hamilton after a disagreement after the team lost a warm-up game to Bangladesh on Friday.

Calum Macleod, a 20-year old has been given permission by the ICC to replace Blain. Blain's absence is certainly going to weaken Scotland's pace battery. It is a pity that the Scotland management did not see reason and make peace between the two and stop Blain from quitting for the good of the team and their endeavour to do well in the Twenty20.