On Sunday, players of the Sri Lankan cricket squad who were in Zimbabwe to compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers were seen seated on the floor of their hotel while waiting to be assigned rooms.
Images of these quickly spread over social media platforms, including the athletes’ personal Twitter and Instagram accounts. It is significant that Sri Lanka is in a scenario where they need to participate in the Qualifiers in order to be a part of the main ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time in a very long time. This circumstance has not occurred for Sri Lanka since the last time the main tournament was held.
During the qualifying stages, the ICC does not offer equivalent privileges afforded to key ICC competitions. As a result, players are forced to share hotel rooms, which is a very unfair condition for the national cricketers.
It has come to our attention that players’ wives and other family members will not be permitted to accompany them on this particular trip owing to the minimal facilities that will be provided by the host nation, Zimbabwe, during the event that will run from June 18th to July 9th.
The following is a clarification that was provided by Sri Lanka Cricket in their press release on a delay in the check-in procedure that was caused at the hotel where the squad is stationed while they are in Bulawayo.
The Sri Lankan squad arrived at the hotel on Sunday, November 11 at noon, and at the time of the arrival, another national cricket team, which had arrived just before the Sri Lankan team, was in the process of checking in. The Sri Lankan team was the first team to arrive at the hotel. As a result of this circumstance, there was a holdup in the process of checking in some of the players for the Sri Lankan National Team.