November 12, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 01, 1428

COLOMBO, Nov 11: Sri Lanka’s cricket governing body on Sunday asked their counterparts in Australia to end the lock out of international media from the ongoing Test series between the two nations.

“Our chief executive Duleep Mendis has written to Cricket Australia to see if they can settle the issue”, Samantha Algama, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) spokesman told AFP.

SLC officials said they were seeking international coverage of the Sri Lanka-Australia second Test in Hobart where spinner Muttiah Muralitharan could pass Shane Warne’s tally of 709 Test wickets.

“The Murali issue is our concern. If the problem continued, we will not have any pictures when Murali manages to break the record,” SLC secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said.

The Cricket Australia (CA) decision has meant that no coverage was possible by international news agencies in the first Test at Gabba which is scheduled to end on Monday.

The world’s top three global news agencies said on Thursday they would boycott the first cricket Test between Australia and Sri Lanka after organisers imposed unprecedented restrictions on coverage.

The agencies, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press, suspended all coverage of the 2007-08 season over CA demands, including one that they hand over rights to all photos taken at matches.

The blackout of photos, news reports, graphics and video has meant that many international cricket fans have been unable to see photos of their favourite team or read about the match’s progress.

The conditions imposed on photographers and journalists applying for credentials to cover cricket raise grave concerns about press freedom, the agencies said.—AFP