Never in the history of cricket in this country, has the good name of the Cricket Board been sullied by such accusations. Acts of this nature has brought the game into disrepute in the eyes of the cricketing world at a time when the cricketers are doing the country proud by becoming the number one one-day nation in the world.
The shameful acts of the Cricket Board's hierarchy is not expected to affect the cricketers, who have an important assignment on their hands in trying to win a tournament, which features three of the best one-day teams in the world - South Africa, Pakistan and West Indies.
Australian-born Sri Lanka coach Bruce Yardley believes if Sri Lanka wins this tournament, they will also forge ahead in Test cricket, an area where they have yet to prove their capabilities.
``Winning in Pakistan will prove something. People here say that Sri Lanka didn't play any of the three countries in the World Cup. You can't take anything away from the World Cup victories. But it will be terrific, and the boys are also very keen, to prove to everybody that they can beat everybody,'' said Yardley.
``As I see it, it is going to be a very tough tournament to win. Every match is going to be like a final,'' he said.
``Our chances of winning are very high, but it's going to be pretty even competition. Pakistan are always dangerous and unpredictable. South Africa and West Indies are both strong cricket teams,'' Yardley said.
``These teams rely on pace. We rely more on spin. I don't believe just because the track might be a little quick, we should go with extra fast bowlers. Our spinners are the ones who are going to win this tournament,'' he said.
``I believe that we have the best balanced one-day team in the world. I don't think anybody can take that away from us. When you've got (Kumara) Dharmasena batting at no. 8 and (Chaminda) Vaas at nine, it's a pretty strong line-up,'' Yardley continued.
``In the top six you got Sanath (Jayasuriya) bowling left-arm orthodox and firing in his yorkers when he needs to, and Aravinda (de Silva) whom I think is one of the smartest bowlers ever seen in one-day cricket. Murali has enormous over spin and drops on very quickly and Dharmasena is quicker. With the two quicks, Sajeeva (de Silva), who has the ability to knock over the big players and the reliable Vaas, the combination has worked pretty well for us this year,'' said Yardley.
Sri Lanka manager Duleep Mendis said the near one-month break his team got at the conclusion of the Indian series in August was 'most welcome'.
Following three to four weeks of physical training and the commencement of skills last month had put the players in fine fettle.
The most encouraging aspect, was that each of the players who were given a program to take away with them during the break (they had to work on their fitness three times a week) returned to practice very fit. It gave the team management a head start.
The only cause for alarm, although not a serious one, was the arthroscopic surgery batsman Hashan Tillekeratne had to undergo in his right shoulder. He was away in Australia for 12 days for treatment.
``We needed only to polish off the rough edges and as a means of doing so we played two one-day matches against a possible second side. It was a good test for our players,'' said Mendis.
Assessing Sri Lanka's chances in Pakistan, Mendis said: ``We have the edge. We are quite confident. A lot will depend on the types of wickets we will get,'' he said.
The tournament to celebrate Pakistan's fiftieth year of Independence is held at Lahore, the venue of Sri Lanka's World Cup triumph 19 months ago when they defeated Australia in the final. All matches will be day-night affairs.
Sri Lanka open their quest to win the tournament when they meet West Indies on Saturday (November 1). The rest of the draw: Nov. 2 : Pakistan v South Africa, Nov. 3 : South Africa v West Indies, Nov. 4 : Pakistan v West Indies, Nov. 5 : Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Nov. 6 : Sri Lanka v South Africa, Nov. 7 : Rest day, Nov. 8 : Final.