Warm-up games moved to SSC

The Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Columbo will host the two World Cup 2011 warm-up matches that had been scheduled to take place at Pallekele in Sri Lanka. The ICC said in a statement that it had also considered Hambantota as an alternate venue, but heavy rain in the southern Sri Lankan region ruled out that option.

The two games, Sri Lanka versus the Netherlands on February 12, and Kenya versus the Netherlands on February 15, will be day games. This does not affect the three tournament fixtures scheduled to take place at Pallekele in March.

The decision to move the games from Pallekele was made following a recommendation by ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson after he inspected the venue on Wednesday. Heavy rain in the region had affected the preparation of the pitches.