Colombo: The World Twenty20 has received worldwide coverage from countries you would not expect.

Reporters from countries like China and Germany have been accommodated at the event to ensure the tournament has had global appeal.

Little wonder, then, that every day the press box at the stadiums has been packed to the brim.

For Sami Ul Hassan, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Venue Media Manager in Colombo, it was therefore a huge task finding space for everyone.

“In addition to scribes from the 12 participating countries, as well as UAE and Qatar, this time we had reporters from China, France, Germany and USA too. So this has indeed been a massive operation,” Hasan told Gulf News.

At the Premadasa stadium in Colombo, the press box is located on the fourth floor, and a lift carrying reporters often announced that it was overloaded, forcing the larger pressmen to get out.

“We are lucky to have a press box that can accommodate many reporters. Ever since the 2011 World Cup, every stadium has large press boxes. Today it is not just the print media that fills up space. With cricket getting popular every day, now there are quite a few websites exclusively for the game,” said Colin Gibson, the ICC Head of Media and Communication.

For the post and pre-match press conferences, all 500 reporters would scramble for space in the hall. Adding to that crowd would be a TV crew.

At most of the conferences one would witness hilarious incidents. For example, despite repeated requests for all mobile phones to be switched off, invariably by the time the third question is asked, a mobile phone would ring somewhere.

During the pre-match press conference of the West Indies team, the media manager made his usual request for phones to be switched off. Halfway through the first answer from West Indies skipper Darren Sammy, there was a ring forcing many to scream in anger. The reporter was caught like a pick-pocketer and some accused him of never putting off his phone during press conferences.

After India had protested over the ban of questions in Hindi, it was later decided that every country could ask the first five questions in their language.

As such, with Sri Lanka reaching the final, the first five questions were in Sinhalese and hardly anyone could understand a word of what skipper Mahela Jayawardene said. Therefore, after the press conference the most sought-after man was Rex Clementine, sports editor of The Island, who patiently translated every word for everyone.

Hospitality from the Sri Lankans has been excellent, with people going out of their way to make things comfortable for journalists.

It was surprising to receive a communication from the presidential secretariat offering a personal invitation from Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan President, to a reception on Saturday.

Security arrangements for this visit were tight, with a request made for people attending not to carry mobiles, cameras or any other electronic items to the reception.

“Mobile phones are having a tough time during this World Cup. They are the most cherished objects, but the most hated too,” remarked one scribe.