21 April 2005	Thursday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

GALLE (Sri Lanka), April 20: Former England skipper Ian Botham coached tsunami survivors in this southern Sri Lanka town on Wednesday and visited two villages that were destroyed by the worst natural disaster to hit the island.

Botham said he was assessing the needs of the two villages as part of an effort by a British charity to see how best they could help the local community overcome the effects of the Dec 26 disaster.

“I am shocked at what had happened,” Botham told reporters here. “But, we should look to the future.”

His aircraft from the capital Colombo to this southern town, a distance of 115 kilometres, was delayed due to bad weather restricting his coaching clinic to just half an hour.

Tsunami survivors from the region were offered a few bowling tips by the former England all-rounder at the Galle International Stadium which was also submerged in the tsunamis.

He also visited the site where a train was hit by the giant waves, killing nearly 1,000 people. A total of nearly 31,000 people were killed across the country.

Botham said he hoped the stadium would be restored although Sri Lankan officials say they may not be able to play any international matches there because of new zoning restrictions at the picturesque Test venue.

Organiser Kushil Gunasekara said Botham was visiting the island as an ambassador for a British charity helping tsunami victims.

Gunasekara said Botham was impressed with the pace of reconstruction in devastated area and visited some of the newly built homes in the area.

Australia’s Shane Warne travelled to the south of the island in February.—AFP