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It seems the British press thrive on controversies.

Soon after the captain's meeting at Lord's on Tuesday, they cornered Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga and reignited the whole issue involving England captain Alec Stewart at Adelaide in January.

It was all to do with the stump microphone, the very instrument that picked up Stewart telling Ranatunga that his behaviour had been ``appalling for a country's captain'' during the infamous World Series Cup match when the game was brought to a halt after Muthiah Muralitharan had been called for throwing. The England captain further dented relations with his Sri Lankan counterpart by criticising his behaviour in his recently published book.

Ranatunga for his part denounced Stewart upon his arrival in England last week as somebody ``who knows nothing'' about Sri Lanka cricket.

England, mindful that the comments of their captain and wicket-keeper were often to be heard during the series in Australia, raised the issue through their manager David Graveney of having the microphones switched off during the World Cup.

``The competition will be seen by millions, but whether it's seen by millions or thousands, the way in which the game is played must be at the right level,'' said Stewart when asked for his opinion.

That means there must not be any silly outbursts on the field or exhibitions of unseemly behaviour. In other words there must be no repetitions of the scenes that took place in Adelaide.

Ranatunga was quite blunt with his opinion of having the microphones switched off.

``It shouldn't be switched off. If you are playing the game properly you don't have to resort to that. The microphones should be there full time. You tend to take such precautions only if you are worried. The public is there to support cricket and they have the right to know what's happening in the middle,'' said Ranatunga.

There is no love lost between Ranatunga and Stewart and everybody is hoping that ill-will does not spill on to the field when the two countries meet in the World Cup lung-opener at Lord's on May 14.

If the captains again agree to differ in the middle, their conversation is unlikely to be relayed to viewers. The stump microphones in this competition are likely to be switched off as soon as the batsman has played the ball.

Graveney said: ``There's a balance between what the game wants and what the television companies want. Sometimes the mikes are left on unnecessarily''.

Whose opinion will prevail remains to be seen with BBC and Sky Sports sharing the TV broadcasts.

``The Times'' said that Ranatunga has not mellowed much despite the suspended six-match ban hanging over him as a result of the Adelaide fiasco.

``They called him Napolean when he was masterminding Sri Lanka's triumph in the last World Cup, but he was quoted in the paper saying: ``I think I've become Hitler now. I was thinking of stepping down but I'm taking my words back. A lot of bad elements want me to get out, so maybe I should not allow that to happen''.