Boon to boost trade ties with Tasmania….-

Former Australian cricketer turned ICC Match Referee David Boon has been a frequent visitor to Sri Lanka since he first stepped into the country as a 16-year-old with the Australian Under 19 team in 1977. But last week he was in Sri Lanka for a different purpose other than cricket. He was part of a delegation that came on a trade mission playing the role of an ambassador for the Tasmanian government.

“I am very pleased to be here as always this time not in a cricket capacity,” As boon said “I am in a role as an ambassador for the Tasmanian government who has initiated a trade mission through South East Asia. I’ve accompanied this delegation through India and Sri Lanka the purpose essentially is to initiate relationships through education, through government ministries on things that Tasmania and Sri Lanka have a lot in common. The Tasmanian government would like to open up relationships for inter trade or skills, high products in hospitality industry such as wine and some of the other produce.

“We know Sri Lanka are very much aware of their natural heritage and environment as we are. Over half of our state is in a protected status and heritage forests are renowned worldwide. From all reports the delegates have enjoyed the whole thing they love Sri Lanka and they’ve formulated some nice introductions and relationships with corresponding skill sets and industry here,” he said.

Boon said that he along with another former renowned cricketer from Tasmania and Australia Ricky Ponting were invited by the Tasmanian government as ambassadors to be part of the trade delegation because of their connection with cricket.

“Ricky Ponting helped them for the first half and I came in for the second half of the mission. We are both Tasmanians and we played cricket in all those countries so we have in common as well. Our cricketing careers give us an opportunity to go back to countries that love cricket as we do. People know us so it makes it easier with some of the introductions to move forward and through people’s knowledge of us to help the government and the delegates,” Boon said.

The number of times he’s been to Sri Lanka Boon said he had lost count. “I couldn’t put a number of the times I’ve been to Sri Lanka maybe about 15 to 20 times, five times in the last six years with the ICC. I’ve come as a player then as a selector during the World Cup and a couple of times with youth cricket. I met some very good friends here as well.

“I still recogise a lot of things that have not changed since I first came in 1977. Those things are mainly historical in buildings. It’s wonderful that they have been kept in the way they have and modern Colombo in Sri Lanka has been built around that. The infrastructure in Colombo is to utilize the seaside in everything Galle Face road there’s more development happening it’s an obvious sign with constructions and overseas investments that the Sri Lankan economy is growing and tourism is going forward in leaps and bounds,”| said Boon.

“One of the biggest changes I’ve seen and hope to experience one day is how you opened up the east coast again and the number of resorts that have been built there beautiful on that side of the island. Colombo is safe, safe as any city can be I’ve never felt under threat here, the people have been very friendly, they are very open, helpful and this makes it enjoyable to come here. With my family, my wife has been here with me four times. My youngest daughter came with us last year and loved it. So whenever I am down, I sign up and see whether it is Sri Lanka that I am assigned to as match referee.”

ON CRICKET

Comparing the cricket played by Australia and Sri Lanka, Boon said that Sri Lanka cricket is not at all as Australian cricket at the highest level.

“I remember playing in Sri Lanka’s first ever Test match in Perth (in 1987) and it finished in three and a bit days but I think it’s fantastic where Sri Lanka cricket has gone suppose at a different level very similar to Tasmania cricket. In the Sheffield Shield we are the youngest but we grew, won a couple of Sheffield Shields and one-day competitions and produced cricketers for Australia. Sri Lanka has won series moved forward and they produced some of the best cricketers of the modern era. Your cricket has gone in leaps and bounds,” said Boon.

“I was not amazed there’s still some quality. I watched Sri Lanka play in the ODI series in England which I was overseeing. I secretly thought Oh, the Test series with Australia they are not going to have any chance. But within a very short space of time they’ve learnt their lesson. Some of those young kids in England through Fordy (Graham Ford), through Angelo’s (Angelo Mathews) leadership and the other coaching staff they’ve moved that forward at a rapid pace and they played beautifully in the Test series against Australia,” he said.

“I was not surprised at all. It’s a mental thing to get over that and move forward. To me that’s what they did. Australia didn’t play at their best especially facing the old wily Rangana (Herath) and the young kids went really well the young off-spinner (Dilruwan Perera). The batters especially young (Kusal) Mendis and (Dinesh) Chandimal they took the Australians and played exceptionally well to give the bowlers enough runs for them to bowl Australia out.”

However Sri Lanka failed to produce the same form in the ODI and T20I series which they lost to Australia.

“It’s a totally different game to me from Test cricket to ODI and T20I cricket. There are changes in personnel and format of the game. Just because they won the Test series doesn’t mean that they can automatically win in the other two formats,” said Boon. “I think probably what may have occurred is with the change of some personnel with that team who had not experienced defeats in Test cricket they come with a positive mental attitude to their roles and uplift the other guys who have been flat-footed during the Test series.”

Boon played for Australia in 107 Tests and 181 ODIs between 1984 and 1996 as a right-hand top order batsman. He was man of the final when Australia won their first World Cup under Allan Border in 1987. After retiring from all cricket in 1999 Boon accepted a position in marketing with the Tasmanian Cricket Association in Hobart and in 2000 replaced Geoff Marsh, his mate and former opening partner, as an Australia selector. Since 2011, he has been and ICC Match Referee which keeps him busy for six months of the year.