{"id":3019,"date":"2011-12-27T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T12:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2012-04-03T21:02:05","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T21:02:05","slug":"wikileaks-sri-lanka-is-a-cricket-mad-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-sri-lanka-is-a-cricket-mad-country\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Sri Lanka Is A Cricket-Mad Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_3020\" style=\"width: 608px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-sri-lanka-is-a-cricket-mad-country\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-3020\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3020\" class=\" wp-image-3020  \" title=\"cricket-mad - 2Colombo Telegraph.cms\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"598\" height=\"374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms.jpg 1247w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms-1024x639.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cricket-mad-2colombo-telegraph-cms-800x499.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3020\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sri Lankans had grown used to their cricket-mad country being overlooked as a host for major events because of the conflict and the danger of terrorism<\/p><\/div>\n<p>By Colombo Telegraph \u2013<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe fact that a major cricket tournament is taking place in Sri Lanka at all is a pleasant surprise to many here. Sri Lankans had grown used to their cricket-mad country being overlooked as a host for major events because of the conflict and the danger of terrorism.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and written on September 26, 2002 by the Charge D\u2019Affaires \u00a0W. Lewis Amselem.<\/p>\n<p>Under the subheading \u201cCricket&#8217;s Healing Powers Charge\u201d D&#8217;Affaires wrote \u201cSri Lankans are avidly embracing a major international cricket tourney now taking place in Colombo. The three-week tournament sponsored by the International Cricket Council is the second most important in cricket, ranking just after the World Cup. All of the best international cricket teams have been participating, including Australia, India, Pakistan, and the popular local team. Large crowds have flocked to the matches and the TV audience, including in the war- ravaged north and east, is said to be huge. The fact that the Sri Lankan team has done quite well has also helped ratings, no doubt. The country is expected to come to a standstill when Sri Lanka plays defending world champion Australia on September 27.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Placing a comment he wrote \u201cThe fact that a major cricket tournament is taking place in Sri Lanka at all is a pleasant surprise to many here. Sri Lankans had grown used to their cricket-mad country being overlooked as a host for major events because of the conflict and the danger of terrorism. Big events can now take place in Sri Lanka due to the peace process, however, and Sri Lankans of all ethnic stripes appreciate that. Indeed, for Sri Lankans the news only gets better: a major test match between the Australian and Pakistani teams had to be moved from Pakistan because of tensions there. The new site: Sri Lanka.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Related stories;\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-cricket-is-like-a-religion-in-sri-lanka\/\">WikiLeaks: Cricket Is Like A Religion In Sri Lanka<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Below we give\u00a0the relevant part of the confidential cable;<\/p>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001790\r\n\r\nSIPDIS\r\n\r\nNOFORN\r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA\/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD\r\n\r\nNEW DELHI PLS PASS TO AMBASSADOR WILLS\r\n\r\nE.O. 12958:  DECL:  09-26-12\r\nTAGS: <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PGOV_0.html\">PGOV<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PTER_0.html\">PTER<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PINS_0.html\">PINS<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/MOPS_0.html\">MOPS<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/LTTE_0.html\">LTTE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT:  Peace process update: Report of tensions in\r\nmilitary; Tiger cadre movement; Cricket's healing powers\r\n\r\nRefs:  Colombo 1787, and previous\r\n(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Charge d'Affaires.\r\nReasons 1.5 (b, d).\r\n========================\r\nCricket's Healing Powers\r\n========================\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par9\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/09\/02COLOMBO1790.html#par9\">\u00b6<\/a>9.  (U) Sri Lankans are avidly embracing a major\r\ninternational cricket tourney now taking place in\r\nColombo.  The three-week tournament sponsored by the\r\nInternational Cricket Council is the second most\r\nimportant in cricket, ranking just after the World Cup.\r\nAll of the best international cricket teams have been\r\nparticipating, including Australia, India, Pakistan, and\r\nthe popular local team.  Large crowds have flocked to\r\nthe matches and the TV audience, including in the war-\r\nravaged north and east, is said to be huge.  The fact\r\nthat the Sri Lankan team has done quite well has also\r\nhelped ratings, no doubt.  The country is expected to\r\ncome to a standstill when Sri Lanka plays defending\r\nworld champion Australia on September 27.\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par10\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/09\/02COLOMBO1790.html#par10\">\u00b6<\/a>10.  (SBU) Comment:  The fact that a major cricket\r\ntournament is taking place in Sri Lanka at all is a\r\npleasant surprise to many here.  Sri Lankans had grown\r\nused to their cricket-mad country being overlooked as a\r\nhost for major events because of the conflict and the\r\ndanger of terrorism.  Big events can now take place in\r\nSri Lanka due to the peace process, however, and Sri\r\nLankans of all ethnic stripes appreciate that.  Indeed,\r\nfor Sri Lankans the news only gets better:  a major test\r\nmatch between the Australian and Pakistani teams had to\r\nbe moved from Pakistan because of tensions there.  The\r\nnew site:  Sri Lanka.  End Comment.\r\n\r\n<a id=\"par11\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/09\/02COLOMBO1790.html#par11\">\u00b6<\/a>11.  (U) Minimize considered.\r\nAMSELEM<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,27],"tags":[1676,1677,1648,1161,1678,1679,1263],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag-cricket-and-politics","tag-cricket-mad-country","tag-ethnic-conflict-in-sri-lanka","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-peace-process","tag-sri-lanka-cricket","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks: Sri Lanka Is A Cricket-Mad Country - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-sri-lanka-is-a-cricket-mad-country\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Sri Lanka Is A Cricket-Mad Country - 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