Lack of fitness cost Lanka a place in the final - Roger

Chris Dhambarage reporting

Sri Lanka coach Roger Wijesuriya said that lack of fitness and their inconsistency cost them a place in the final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under 19 World Cup which is now in progress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Lankans led by Ashan Subasinghe were knocked out from the Cup championship following a 79 run defeat at the hands of New Zealand and then bowed out of the sixteen nation tournament with a close eight run defeat to England on the Duckworth and Lewis scoring method in the rain affected Play Off semifinal fixture.

"We were not consistent with our batting and are really worried about the fitness level of the boys. When we see them getting out in their 30's and 40's it is because of the lack of fitness as they cannot concentrate for a long period at the crease. They will have to improve a lot in this area if they are to get into the other side".

However Wijesuriya commended the efforts of all rounder Sachith Pathirana who was easily the most outstanding payer in the Sri Lankan side. "Pathirana had a good tournament but the others were not consistent.

At the end what matters is the consistency. You may say that talent is everything but what is the use if you are not producing the results".

Even then the Sri Lankan coach said that this is not the end for the boys because there are few cricketers who are capable of making it to the Academy team or even for the Sri Lanka 'A' team.

"If you feel that you have produced four to five cricketers for the future that is a great achievement. Of course this was not a good ending for us but these are ups and the downs we see in the game and we should not to get discouraged".

The Sri Lankan coach also called in for some major changes in the domestic structure and in the school cricket scene if they are to make an impact at this level. "Our under 19 cricket along will not do anything good for the schools and the future. We will have to play in the higher grade like in the under 23 domestic tournament.

We will have to field an under 19 team in the under 23 tournament. That's how we are going to get the exposure. The players in the other teams are more matured. But our boys are in the soft side. They will have to get bit hard. These are the avenues we have to address and start working".

Wijesuriya said that he is disappointed with the overall performances of the team because they could have done much better considering their talent and potential.

"We could have done something better in this tournament. We were good enough to get into the semifinals or even the final. We had a chance but we could not grab the opportunity in the quarterfinal.

In the game against England showed that the more you take wickets only you can push the other side on. But we did not take wickets at regular intervals. We are disappointed with the pace attack because we did not get a good start.

All other teams managed to pick up early wickets and pushed the opposition on the defensive. But in our case the spinners had to come and do the damage even after 14 or 15 overs. If the seamers had captured at least two wickets and given us a good start then the spinners could have run through the middle order".