Vital exposure for Lankan youth team

Chris DHAMBARAGE

The Sri Lanka Under 19 team led by Dinesh Chandimal will be looking to gain the maximum exposure when they begin a month long tour to Bangladesh starting today. The team which is studded with a number of youth internationals will play one two day warm up match, two three day games in addition to five one day internationals against their counterparts.

Sri Lanka Under 19 team coach Roger Wijesuriya believe that there should be more tours of this nature if Sri Lanka are to make a solid second string line up.

But unfortunately this is the first tour that the Sri Lanka Under 19 team will be participating since the previous ICC Youth World Cup tournament staged in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2008. Wijesuriya noted that the present Sri Lanka (SLC) Cricket Interim Committee headed by former Sri Lanka leg spinner D. Somachandra de Silva is making every effort to improve the standard of junior cricket with many foreign tours lined up for the next two years.

Wijesuriya stated that the standard of cricket at this level in Bangladesh is very high and the players should be able to get the best out of it which will help them to build their future career. The Sri Lanka Under 19 coach said that the current players have just completed a successful inter school career and the players should be able to concentrate on a higher level with the hope of making it to the Sri Lanka ‘A’ side.

Wijesuriya noted that if at least a couple of players from the present team could make it to the Academy XI, Development Squad or the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team then he will be more than pleased with their performances. Wijesuriya said that it is now too early to begin their preparations for next years International Cricket Council (ICC) Youth World Cup in Kenya because all these players will not be eligible to participate in the tournament.

In fact both skipper Dinesh Chandimal of Ananda College and his deputy Angelo Perera of St. Peter’s College along with stylish batsman Kusal Janith Perera of Royal College will be out from the Under 19 World Cup and should try to make the maximum from this tour.

They are the two most outstanding players in this line up having scored well over one thousand runs in the concluded inter school cricket season. In fact Angelo Perera was certainly an exceptional player in this season where he amassed a total of 1543 runs in the two day matches including five centuries and six half centuries. He also scored a career best 239 against Nalanda College while overcoming his previous highest individual score of 229. The most significant fact in his batting has been the fact that once he completes his century he has been able to convert that hundred into a big score which was a clear indication of his temperament and concentration.

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The Sri Lanka Under 19 team

Dinesh Chandimal (captain - Ananda), Angelo Perera (vice captain - St. Peters’s), Udara Jayasundera (Navy SC), Buwanaka Ekanayake (Dharmaraja), Kusal Perera (Royal), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Royal), Imesh Udayanga (Dharmasoka), Chaturanga de Silva (St. Aloysius), Shameera Weerasinghe (St. Joseph’s), Matheesha Perera (Ananda), Rushal Jaleel (Trinity), Chatura Peiris (St. Peter’s), Vimanga Perera (Maliyadeva), Lahiru Jayaratne (Christ Church Matale), Madhusha Ekanayake (S. Thomas’ Matara). Stand byes: Gayan Manishan (Maliyadeva), Dilan Chandima (Prince of Wales), Dilan Gangoda (Trinity), Dinuk Jayasinghe (Nalanda), Malith Cooray (St. Aloysius). Officials on tour: Roger Wijesuriya (coach), Prabath Nissanka (assistant coach) Sunil Wickremanayake (manager), Priyantha Wickremasinghe (physiotherapist).