Hathurusingha to groom good feeder pool

Sri Lanka 'A' coach eyes Caribbean tour :

Dinesh WEERAWANSA

CRICKET: The new Sri Lanka 'A' coach Chandika Hathurusingha plans to make use of the forthcoming tour of the Caribbean Islands to give experience to talented youngsters and groom a good feeder pool in time for the 2007 World Cup.

"It is important that we give enough exposure to our second string players and maintain an equally strong development pool. There are a few players in the national pool who lack experience in the Caribbean. Along with several other future prospects, we hope to take them to the West Indies," said the former Sri Lanka opener.

His initial task after assuming duties as the new Sri Lanka 'A' coach over the weekend, will be to train the second string national poolists for their forthcoming tours to India and the West Indies.

Hathurusingha, who celebrates his 38th birthday next Wednesday (13), is of the view that Sri Lanka should make the best use of their 'A' tour to the Caribbean in November as the 2007 World Cup tournament will be played in the West Indies.

"There is so much talent. But very few players survive once they reach the top level at Tests or ODIs. If one could climb up the ladder, I don't see any reason why they can not sustain that position," he said.

Hathurusingha gave up his job as the national coach of the United Arab Emirates after nine months to take up his new assignment at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

"They offered me this when I was in the UAE and I thought this is the best time to offer my services to the country once more," he said. He served for a brief period as Sri Lanka 'A' coach in 2002 on the tour of Namibia for the Emerging trophy tournament.

Sri Lanka 'A' will be touring India next month to play in the Duleep trophy tournament. "They invite one foreign team each year and its Sri Lanka this time. The tour of the West Indies will follow from November 19 and that involves both unofficial Tests as well as limited over games," he said.

The Sri Lanka 'A' coach said the two tours are in his short-term plan while the formation of a strong development squad is on his agenda as a medium term goal. "But my ultimate goal in the long-term plan is to produce quality players to fill future vacancies in the national team," he said.

He stressed the importance of grooming man to man stand by poolists for the national players. "Sri Lanka has been doing that and we must continue that in order to produce equally strong replacements.

For instance, two to three players in the national team may retire after the 2007 World Cup. By then, we should have replacements of equal strength," he said.

Hathurusingha plans to have discussions with the national selectors and Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody before he gets into serious action.

"I want to talk to them and study their line of thinking so that we would have a better understanding. Then our task of working for a common goal would be easier," he continued.

"Unlike in the past, there are so much opportunities for young cricketers at Under 17, 19, academy and Sri Lanka 'A' levels. My aim is to guide the lads to do the things in a technically sound smooth way, rather than being hard. They should be more focused on the game to deliver the goods. It is important that they be consistent," Hathurusingha explained.

Making his Test debut for Sri Lanka in 1991 at Hamilton, Hathurusingha made scored 23 and 81 runs against New Zealand. He has aggregated 1,274 runs in 26 Tests. He has also played 35 ODIs as a right-handed top order and a useful fast medium change bowler.

Hathurusingha played premier league cricket for Tamil Union from 1984 to 1998 before joining Moors SC. He represented the Braybrooke Place club until 2003 before returning to Sara Stadium in 2004.

Having played competitive cricket in Australia and England, Hathurusingha holds Australian Level 2 and English level 3 certificates as a coach. He thanked the SLC for giving him an opportunity to work with the island's emerging cricketers.