COLOMBO — Sri Lanka Friday turned down a request from Pakistan to play day-night Tests in the upcoming series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where both countries have loyal fans. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said it decided against playing day-night Tests “since the national team players have not practised under lights and with the new pink ball.” The challenge facing such Tests has been to find a ball that is clearly visible in both sunshine and floodlights, and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it had sent the Sri Lankan board a dozen balls of pink and orange color for them to examine. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had approved the day-night matches under floodlights as a way to stem dwindling interest in Tests in many countries. The UAE has a large expatriate Pakistani community but few show up to watch Test matches, in part because they are played during the day when most are at work. No country has yet tried the new format and the ICC has left it to individual boards to decide when and how to experiment. Pakistan has been forced to play its “home” internationals at neutral venues, mainly in the UAE, since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team during a Test in Lahore in 2009. Pakistan hosts Sri Lanka for three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and two Twenty20s in December and January in the UAE and Sarwar had thought that the conditions were right to experiment. The first Test starts in Dubai on Dec. 31. The other two Tests are in Abu Dhabi (Jan. 8-12) and Sharjah (Jan. 16-20). Whatmore warns Pakistan against complacency Pakistan's cricket coach Dav Whatmore Friday warned his team against being complacent when it faces up to lowly Zimbabwe next week in a tour considered important for blooding new players. The 59-year-old former Australian batsman said the team was training hard for the two Twenty20, three one-day and two Test matches and would not take its opposition lightly. “We may be playing Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe but they are still very important for Pakistan,” he said. “The danger that I see anyway is complacency. We don't want to be complacent in any of our make-up with this cricket.” Pakistan is due to depart Monday to play the first of two Twenty20 on August 23, with the last Test scheduled to start Sept. 10. It is well ahead of their African rival in the rankings: fifth in Tests, sixth in one-day and second in Twenty20. In contrast, Zimbabwe is without a ranking in Tests as it has not played the required number of matches, is 10th in one-dayers and as low as 12th in Twenty20s — ahead of just The Netherlands and Kenya. Whatmore, who coached Sri Lanka to World Cup victory in 1996, backed Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez who has struggled for form lately. “He's (Hafeez) done pretty well in the format that he captains. We have climbed up the rankings under his leadership. He would obviously like to score more runs, that's accepted.” Pakistan clean swept Zimbabwe in all three formats on its last tour in 2011, but Whatmore still feels the team should take one game at a time. “We take one game at a time. There is a bit of difference in rankings sure, but as you know cricket has some uncertain glories in the game, we can't take anything for granted, we take one game at a time.” Whatmore said new players will add interest to the series. “Sometimes new players are exciting to work with. When new players are picked, it does change a little bit the balance and the approach, getting used to them, getting them used to me.” He added that the appointment of former captain Moin Khan as manager, who criticized Whatmore's own appointment as coach in the past, would benefit the team. “Moin comes from a very strong playing background whereas our previous manager had more of an administration background. That carries some advantages for sure and personally I will try to tap those advantages.” — Agencies
