World Twenty20 opening ceremony a damp squib

LONDON (AFP) - Old-timers in the Lord's Pavilion are used to hearing a variety of sounds - the smack of leather
on willow as the batsman plays a shot and polite applause if the stroke reaches the boundary.
Some of them may have been less familiar with pop singer Pink's 'Get the Party Started', a tune that was blaring
out over the loudspeakers at Lord's in the build-up to the opening match of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
between England and the Netherlands here on Friday.
Sadly, for organisers and those who'd planned the tournament's opening ceremony, the weather was not in a
party mood.
Leaden skies and rain, which delayed the scheduled 1600GMT toss, were not conducive to the kind of theatrics
associated with Twenty20.
Indeed conditions were reminiscent of those which accompanied the limp opening ceremony at Lord's for the
1999 50-over World Cup - the last time that tournament was played in England.With a huge cover remaining
resolutely in place over the pitch, while volunteers struggled to control giant England and Netherlands flags on the
outfield, a temporary stage in front of the Pavilion, from which the singer Alesha Dixon had been due to perform,
was hastily dismantled.
"Unfortunately, the opening ceremony has been canned," an International Cricket Council spokesman told
reporters in the Lord's media centre. "But we will have a couple of speeches."