SportsMax plans thwarted …
SPORTSMAX, exclusive Caribbean broadcasters of all West Indies away tours, has been advised that there will be no international television broadcast of the rescheduled West Indies ODI tour of Sri Lanka for January 31, February 4 and February 6. As a result, SportsMax will not have coverage, as advertised, of the three ODIs.
Cricket fans the world over will not be able to watch the ODI series as there is no international broadcast being made available by the Sri Lanka Cricket Board.
SportsMax CEO Oliver McIntosh expressed his disappointment, “It’s an unfortunate blow for West Indies cricket fans because there is very little international cricket scheduled for the West Indies in 2011 and cricket fans look forward to watching the team in limited overs action.”  He added, “Our subscribers have been eagerly awaiting this series in light of the fact that there is limited West Indies cricket throughout the year.”
SportsMax had begun airing promotional ads in anticipation that there would be production of the rescheduled one-day internationals.
Due to bad weather in November, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board had decided in November, 2010 to postpone the five-match ODI series as the 2nd and 3rd Test matches were washed out by rain.
According to a release on Cricinfo.com, Ajith Jayasekera, the SLC acting CEO, said, “The three-match series, which is due to begin on January 31, is not a planned tour according to the agreement signed with the Ten Sports, the television broadcasting company.
“We have obtained legal advice and they say it should be considered a separate tour. It is not in the tour programme according to the contract.” Jayasekara added.
The Sri Lankan board also suffered another setback as the ODIs were scheduled to be played at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota and R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo, which had been identified as World Cup venues. However, based on directives from the ICC, no games should be played at any of the World Cup venues so the fixtures were moved to the SSC Grounds Colombo for January 31, February 3 and 6, 2011.
SportsMax, through parent Company IMC, will be showing live and exclusive international cricket from the Indian Premier League, England, Pakistan and New Zealand. They are current broadcasters of the New Zealand tour of Pakistan and the upcoming Indian Premier League.