SLC shield the Galle Stadium to prevent easy access of cricket to spectators

Sri Lanka Cricket has fenced the boundaries of the Galle Stadium since 2012 which has not gone down well with the fans. People got easy access to the action going on inside the ground without tickets before the boundary was covered. But the covering of the ground will now restrict the action to people inside the ground only.

The ground has been guarded by corrugated iron sheets and SLC branding which will not allow people to catch a glimpse of the action from the road outside. However, The vantage points from the Fort ramparts remain open owing to their height.

SLC CEO Ashley de Silva said “The reason is that when you’re playing the match, everyone can see the movement of vehicles going past, and the players get disturbed,” “So we thought the best thing is to cover it up.” De Silva also confirmed the board had not fielded any complaints from either players or paying spectators, but that “people need not make any complaints for us to take action.”

The “new transmission technology” is under threat of being harmed by the sonic and visual disturbances from the road outside the venue claimed the SLC. However, a technician from Ten Sony broadcaster has said that the statement has no logic. According to the technician, there is no chance of the outside noise causing disturbance to broadcasting.

Some of the Galle residents have also been surprised and there has been a panic among them following the step to cover the ground. The reason behind the same is that the ground was used as a park for free by the public before the construction of the stadium. People grew a habit of watching matches for free resting under the trees outside the ground. Those spectators now have two choices available. Either they will have to go to Fort ramparts for a more distant view of the match, or grab a ticket for the match spending their money.