COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan cricket officials and fans are hoping that this tropical island nation's powerful Buddhist clergy won't stop a Champions Trophy cricket match that falls on a full moon day.
The 12-nation International Cricket Council event, a grand showcase of world cricket leading up to the 2003 World Cup, starts Sept. 12. South Africa was scheduled to meet Kenya on Sept. 20 — a full moon day when this predominantly Buddhist nation usually shuts down.
On the monthly full moon days, offices close, butchers don't sell meat and bars don't serve alcohol. Full moon days are sacred to Buddhists because they believe Buddha's birth coincided with a full moon.
Worshippers, wearing white clothes, visit Buddhist shrines on these days. Of the 18.8 million Sri Lankans, 74 percent are Buddhists and the remainder are either Hindus, Muslims or Christians.
Sri Lanka's top cricket official Anura Tennakoon, however, said there will be no disruption in the ICC tournament.
"I am sure that everything will go on well," Tennakoon, the chief executive of the cricket board told The Associated Press.
But fear remains that if any of the top Buddhists priests object, the government and the cricket board will be forced to take action.
The potential scheduling stumbling block was raised last November, when the West Indies cricket squad was touring.
Alarmed by calls from the clergy to halt all sporting activities on "Poya Day", or full moon day, top officials of the cricket board met with the four top priests and urged them to spare the West Indies match.
The board officials managed to convince the clergy that stopping the five-day test match would have tarnished the image of Sri Lankan cricket abroad.
An exception was made and the test went on. But the country's cricket board vowed that in the future, matches wouldn't be scheduled on a full moon day.
The former Peoples' Alliance government then wrote it into law, prohibiting sports activities on full moon days.
During Zimbabwe's tour in December, a rest day was inserted during a test because of the religious observance. Sri Lanka rode on ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's haul of four for 35 to defeat Zimbabwe by an innings and 166 runs the following the rest day.
Critics of the ban said the Peoples' Alliance government took the decision to appease the powerful Buddhist clergy ahead of the last Dec. 5 parliamentary elections. If that was the plan, it backfired, as the party was voted out of office.