Snakes in the grass
The main talking point on the wasn't how their pace attack adapted to the heat and humidity.
It wasn't even about which of their spinners performed the best. Oh no, the big question was just how big were the snakes discovered on the boundary edge?
We were all busy watching the Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI rack up the runs at the Colombo Cricket Club when just before the lunch interval we became aware of a commotion by the side of the field.
In the interests of good journalism I made my way over to find out what the fuss was about and discovered that apparently two snakes had appeared on the grass verge yards from the boundary.
The largest one had reportedly slid away down a drain pipe, but I could clearly see a green shape slithering amongst the undergrowth.
As soon as lunch was called several of the England players, including captain Michael Vaughan, arrived to find out why a crowd was gathering.
The keenest observer was unsurprisingly Matthew Hoggard, an animal lover who might have become a vet if the call of cricket hadn't come along. He bravely got the closest to the reptile despite warnings from some locals that it could be poisonous.
Although I wasn't quite sure what to believe by this stage, one observer told me the first larger snake was more than 10m long and some suggested it was double that length.
The snakes were definitely a pair of according to one local - although not the spitting kind I was reassured -and England off-spinner Graeme Swann told us the players were sure that it was an
I am told that snakes are a serious issue here in Sri Lanka: apparently the island has one of the highest "densities of snakes in the world".
Apparently, more than 90 species from nine families are represented amongst the diverse habitats of Sri Lanka, although only 10 snakes possess venom capable of killing a human.
Inevitably, the sighting led to an attack of dreadful puns and corny lines among the English press corps covering the match, which I am sure will feature in your newspapers on Wednesday morning.
"There was more venom on the edge of the outfield than in the England bowling attack" … "England rattled by events off the field" … "What are England having with their lunch, a pint of snakebite".
You get the idea.
More experienced observers tell me this sort of event is nothing new. which led to several spectators fighting the 4ft creature with chairs.
What is for sure, is that I am certainly going to be more careful if I wander around the outfield on Wednesday!
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When the going gets tough only way to diversify is to talk of other things like the heat or snakes.Presidents 11 in a comfortable position so "change the topic'.Thunderstorm stops the game,so what happened to the 'heat".
Oh these Brits.
Snakes yes a warning"That Murali is coming back from Australia to "coil and attack" the English batting so that he will go into the history books as "the greatest bowler who ever walke the planet".if he isnt already so.
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Anaconda's in Sri Lanka?? That boy's got to get out more!
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Welcome to the Paradise island. The snakes in Sri Lanka aren't as venomous as the politicians there. So relax and enjoy the game of cricket.
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I am traveling to Sri Lanka in two weeks time to watch the cricket, I am by no means a lover of snakes!
Please tell me this is not a regular thing to see snakes in crowd while watching cricket!
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Anaconda in Sri Lanka? 10 Meters long too? What did English cricketers have for breakfast?
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ha ha ha
Anacondas in sri lanka? 10m long cobra?
Not in sri lanka mate! There are no anacondas in lanka and the cobras arent that long there!
In all probability it was a what locals call a "garandiya"; a harmless snake. atleast for humans!
In any case english players would do better to concentrate on whats happening in the middle than off it!
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Snakes alive!!
Why so much hissteria? Adder' thought the locals would have been used to this!
Just goes to show, cricket attracts a hardy bunch.
(I'm sorry)!
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You've got to love cricket - in no other sport could you write a blog on a matchday about a snake and make out that the sport was a side event! Are you sure you're not Bill Oddie?
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If 90 species of the nine families are represented, than Sri Lanka have to be careful before their country be taken over by snake.
Please be careful!!!
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Anaconda... my foot...!!There are no anacondas in Sri Lanka. The picture is more like a rattle kind of non-venomous snake that can be found abundantly in SRi Lanka.
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hai man the snake in the picture is call garandiya and household snake ( rat Snake ) non poisonios and totally innocent. These are mostly available in urban areas in houses and feilds and many people kill them without knowing they are non poisonious. The two came togather is to mating purposes and the comes to open spaces for mate. if you allow them to be free they will show you some erotic snake action which you miss due to your eropean ignorance of plant and animal world. Snakes are part of the Gods creation and they also need to live. unless we do some thing bad they wont donay thing for us and when some one running to them with heavy feet they usually move away. they can feel the vibration of th eopponant and they move away. we were told from our smal days when you wal in night without lige youhave to have heavy steps walking the that vibration will allow snakes to move from your path.
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Nice write up. Even better photo.
Sri Lanka has four types of poisonous snakes which can kill (Cobra, Russel's viper, Sri Lankan Krait and the Indian Krait). The snake in the picture is not one of the four types. It is certainly not a cobra. From what can be seen on the photo, it appears very much like a rat snake. This is a fairly common, non poisonous snake found in Sri Lanka.
Glad to note that the English team was not too disturbed by the snakes. Assure them that there is no cause for concern. Hope they have a good tour and play some exciting cricket.
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The boys need not worry!
My wife, who has a PhD in snake biology, tells me that the picture is of a Common Indian Ratsnake (Ptyas mucosa), which is non venemous, common and can be up to 3.5m long. Also cobras are mainly nocturnal, whereas ratsnakes are commonly out in the day. Ratsnakes can be mistaken for cobras however, so its not worth taking any chances!
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well it just goea to show that when england are doing pretty bad , some sort of interruption magically comes their to stop play .
snakes ?
well sri lanka is known for them but its a first ive heard of snakes adding to the end ofa days play
paddy
age 13
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What worries me more than the sideshow of the snakes is the fact that Hoggard and Anderson who took one wicket between them in the 2003/04 series, have failed to add to that tally today. There seems to be some assumption that England's seam attack will be as potent in Sri Lanka as it is at Lords in May.
What today has shown is that if England expect to base their attack on seam and swing, Sri Lanka may set a new record score in one of the Tests.
We need at least one bowler capable of 90mph+ and at least one capable of getting some bounce. And yes, Monty being a little less harmless than he was for all the tour last winter minus one innings, won't harm our chances at all.
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The snake is a harmless "Rat Snake" commonly called "Gerandiya" in Sinhala. Under stress any harmless small bugger could look like cobra or an anaconda or just a huge rascal.
Some times males fight during mating seson or else they were a pair of mating rat snakes disturbed by the on lookers (peeping toms).
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I think no one should panic. If Adam searches PubMed using my surname he will find I am an expert on snakebite in SL (sorry for being an MPHOT HOT)
There are 95 species of snakes found in SL - only 4 are very venonous (Russell's viper, Ceylon Krait, Indian Krait, Cobra) (can kill), 2 are mildly venomous (Saw scaled viper, hump nosed viper)(very unlikely to die after a bite).
As correctly pointed out by Chamath the snakes seen are most likely rat snakes ('garandiyas') - totally harmless. The locals will always claim they are cobras etc as any 'joker' can successfully treat a bite victim if a visiting England cricketer happen to be bitten by one of them!!
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Just to qualify the Monty comment (I am a Monty fan, but I'm also a realist and his record last winter save in the 3rd Test was very very poor), these were Monty's figures in all the matches to the end of the Test series. Monty would be the first to admit that he took as many wickets in that one Test as he had in 9 other innings on that tour - an inadequate return and something that is rarely mentioned in the Giles v Panesar debate.
0-17
1-58
0-38
1-54
1-34
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At this point Monty had hardly made an unequivocal case for selection for the 1st Test with 3 wickets at 67. In fact, in every innings that he had bowled alongside Ashley Giles, Giles had finished with the better figures.
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2-63
1-69 (the first time that he registered better figures in an innings than Giles)
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With 6 wickets at 55.5 in 7 innings he was selected for the 3rd Test
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5-92
3-145
0-52
2-90
Monty knows that if England are to be competitative in Sri Lanka, he has to be a lot more effective than he was last winter.
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lol..Remember when Gareth batty, Hoggy and Harmy fell in the sea and got sucked in the current and some locals jumped in and saved them. This was back in 2003/4. I heard they were really scared...Damm, sl's a nice place...Must visit someday..
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hey aligator in australia
lions in india
snakes in shri lanka
this is old story in west that is creatures are found on roads.
but america plays NFL football in any season and even is raining or snowing.
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Errr, Dave (comment #19), Steve Harmison was injured after the Bangladesh leg of that winter tour and did not go to Sri Lanka.
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10 m long cobra? The snake in the picture is a Rat Snake (called Gerandiya in sinhalese), very innocent and harmless animal (I assume the picture is relevant to the story and not a file photo). They are very common in Sri Lanka and only thing you need is some kerosene to chase them away. What locals normally do is soak a soft piece of cloth with kerosene and take it close to the animal. Looks like ´óÏó´«Ã½ is always over exaggerating what is really going in Sri Lanka.
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Yes from the picture it does indeed look like a large Indian cobra (naja naja). you can identify them from a dark upside down ohm (greek letter) on the back of the head.
Sri Lanka does have a high fatatality count from snake bites but thats mostly due to rural farmers getting bitten by snakes and being unable to get to a hospital in time. it is actually quite rare that you come across two large cobras in the middle of colombo.
I read somewhere that KP tried to prod the cobra with a stick. That is extremely unwise. Cobras are very aggressive when provoked and extremely quick.
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To Chamath.
Some of us may not have a great knowledge of snakes and it seems like you have issues with this. However, you seem to be slightly ignorant of the English language. We can not all be perfect at everything!!
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good story! but then the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has always given excellent and factual coverage, especially about stuff in sri lanka, no exaggeration!
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Guys,
It's rattle snake.Thats for sure.
Dont afraid to visit Sri Lanka.There is no regulare snakes.
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It's a Rat Snake...
Rat snakes (Ptyas mucosa ) and Cobras (Naja naja): a commonly confused pair
Most large brown snakes are considered to be Cobras, leading to unnecessary panic. However Rat snakes which are NON-VENOMOUS are easily distinguished from Cobras by vertical black lines on the lips below the eyes and irregular black bands on the body which are absent in the Indian Cobras
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bangalore (web site)
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when are you people going to learn that snakes are venomous and not poisonous
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Chaps, if i see a snake on the floor near me i'm running screaming and insisting it was a 40 foot giant cobra with a gaping maw full of razor sharp fangs dripping with acid like venom. I'm not stood there wondering which way the stripes go on the back of its head and the colour of its lips :)
Back to the cricket, agree with Mark, we won't beat sri lanka with swing, the omission of tremlett from the tour is shocking and monty seems to have lost his way a bit, he needs to go back to basics and stop trying to fizz it in, it was his flight and drift that were his strengths, ignore the bowling coaches!
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Welcome to exotic Sri Lanka ...... snakes included!
The one in the picture is definitely a garandiya (rat snake), who can be very handy between the roof and ceiling!
The island also has elephant, leopard, deer and bear as well as over 400 species of birds, while the seas off south-eastern Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world for whale watching!
So don't get alarmed, enjoy the cricket and have a whale of a time!
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I am sure Adam was kidding. May be a little satire.
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I think we have found the sequal to that epic, 'Snakes on a Plane'!!
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Shouldn't we be far more worried about the lack of any evidence of venom in the England attack? 550-5d by a scratch Sri Lankan side, only a few of whom are in contention for Test places is not good news. None of the seven front-line bowlers took more than one wicket.
Continuing the Monty watch, 1-117 will not fill many of the Sri Lankan team with fear. Mind you, Graeme Swann's 1-112 will not cause terror either.
Between rain and the fact that the Sri Lankans have effectively used 2 of the 3 days of the match to bat, it is unlikely that the England attack will get a second opportunity in this game and, unless things go much better in the second match, are likely to go into the 1st Test massively underprepared and short on wickets and confidence.
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this is an innocent rat snake and not a cobra -
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Iwas wandering if the snakes in the grass can bowl, if they can are England allowed to use them? Looking at the bowling figures they could use someone with VENOM IN THERE BOWLING
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Hi Adam
Nice to be in Srilanka and we all welcome you.
Adam as a Srilankan and snake love i can clearly see these are not Cobras. Its look like rattle snake and they are more comman. Normally they looking for small animal like rats.
But happy you guys have good adventure there
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Oh my God Adam, you can beat our politicians in exaggeration! (1) If the photo belongs to one of the snakes found in the ground, its a harmless Rat-Snake (not Rattle Snake!). (2) There are no snakes in SL which grow up to 10 meters! (not in the whole world I suppose!) (3) Tell Swann there are no Anacondas in SL (only Sanaths and Muralis!) (4) There are only 4 species in SL which are capable of killing a human... Just to enlighten you a bit about snakes in SL!
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Oh my God Adam, you can beat our politicians in exaggeration! (1) If the photo belongs to one of the snakes found in the ground, its a harmless Rat-Snake (not Rattle Snake!). (2) There are no snakes in SL which grow up to 10 meters! (not in the whole world I suppose!) (3) Tell Swann there are no Anacondas in SL (only Sanaths and Muralis!) (4) There are only 4 species in SL which are capable of killing a human... Just to enlighten you a bit about snakes in SL!
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Oh my God Adam, you can beat our politicians in exaggeration! (1) If the photo belongs to one of the snakes found in the ground, its a harmless Rat-Snake (not Rattle Snake!). (2) There are no snakes in SL which grow up to 10 meters! (not in the whole world I suppose!) (3) Tell Swann there are no Anacondas in SL (only Sanaths and Muralis!) (4) There are only 4 species in SL which are capable of killing a human... Just to enlighten you a bit about snakes in SL!
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SEND THEM TO THE SRI-LANKA SELECTION COMITY
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It is record if someone saw a 10m long snake in Indian subcontinent.
The largest snake in South Asia is Indian python, and their average adult length is about 4m. The record size is 6.4m (from India). Among cobras, King cobra is the largest, and they can reach up to 5m. King Cobra's are not in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan cobra is small and rarely grows up to 2m (average about 1.5m).
So if the reported snake actually 10m long, they may have come to Sri Lanka with the England team. In fact the photographed snake looks like a rat snake (Garandia in Sinhalese, a non-venomous snake)
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Hey Adam
It is always interesting to hear animal stories related to cricket venues in sri lanka. If the one in the picture was in the scene, probably he is not poisonous. They dont sting either.Anyways, we are waiting to hear a lot more about matches from you.Don't worry about the animals( Kidding)
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"These are mostly available in urban areas in houses and feilds and many people kill them without knowing they are non poisonious. The two came togather is to mating purposes and the comes to open spaces for mate. if you allow them to be free they will show you some erotic snake action which you miss due to your eropean ignorance of plant and animal world."
Dude you are so weird... And please don't say that 'eropeans' are ignorant, you self-righteous buffoon!
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wasn't it a match in Sri Lanka where play was stopped due to a couple of Iguana's or monitor lizards on the wicket?
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Well, as several other Sri Lankans have pointed out, this is indeed a picture of a non-venomous rat snake or 'garandiya' (in sinhalese). It can grow up to 1-2 meters in length and is ubiquitous and found even in urban areas like the area where the Colombo Cricket Club grounds are situated. So no need to worry lol! Then again, it is bit worrying to see the way the sighting of this harmless reptile has been misrepresentated (Giant Cobra!!)in the esteemed British media - including the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and national newspapers.
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Adds colour and bit of excitement to the whole event!!
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Sri lankan Cricket selection committee
than their snakes ,you can check with
Atapattu.
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These damn pomies are a bunch of pussies, thanks for the clarification Magodia, looks like the locals are taking the Pomys for a ride like what the Sri Lankan cricket team will be doing on the test matches.
This is typical Pomy body language, when the going gets tough, why not change the topic and divert the attention. I’ll tell you this much, true we were beaten by the English in the ODI and lost to the Aussies in the recently concluded test matches, but boy oh boy, be aware you Pomys, you will wish you had rather gone snake hunting than be in the middle of a leather hunt!!
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this is not a Cobra!!!!!!!!!!
it's a harmless rat snake we call it garandiya :)
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If the photo is of the real snake, ythis is a common rat snake which is not poisonous and very shy of humans. Cobras can be easily identified due to their hood, which they blow even at the slightest agitation.
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The picture is of a harmless Rat snake. City dwellers in Colombo are no better at identifying local snakes than foreign visitors.To them every serpent is a Naya (Cobra) or a Polonga (Viper). The result is the unnecessary slaughter of all serpents regardless of whether they pose a threat or not.
People also seem very poor at judging size and tend to exaggerate. Only an Anaconda could grow to a length of 10m and it is found only in the Amazon basin. A large rat snake could grow to 10 feet perhaps.
So its easy to imagine how animals like the Loch Ness and the Yeti were invented. Cricket must have been played in the Himalayas and Scotland in the past, and there must have been Sri Lankans among the spectators!
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England media has a good excuse now in case of poor performance.
Blame it on the poor snakes
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Not all of us are experts on snakes....whether harmful or harmless I would personally make it to the nearest exit...I can imagine the plight of the English players.
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