Sports
SLSCA to seek permission to commence Under-19 cricket in March
The tournament committee of the SLSCA met over the weekend to decide ways of bringing schools cricket back to life after it was interrupted in the midst of the peak season in March last year.
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association has decided to seek permission from the Ministry of Education to conduct a limited overs tournament in March for the Under-19 age category as the premier school sports association prepares to end the long hiatus due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
The tournament committee of the SLSCA met over the weekend to decide ways of bringing the sport back to life after it was interrupted in the midst of the peak season in March last year.
“We have to set the right atmosphere to form a team for the 2022 ICC Youth World Cup for which we will have only months if it takes place according to schedule. So we decided to ask for permission to conduct a limited overs tournament for the Under-19 age category,” said J.A.K.S. Indrajith the secretary of the SLSCA.
The tournament committee is looking at the possibility of conducting the Under-19 tournament from March 20 to April 30, either side of April holidays.
“There will not be promotions or demotions for this tournament. This is just a warm up tournament to get junior cricketers back on track.”
The tournament will be vital for those seeking selections to Sri Lanka Under-19 pools with the next ICC Youth World Cup scheduled to be held in early 2022. Generally the ICC Youth World Cups are held in January and February.
The SLSCA’s plan is to limit the first round to just five matches for one team and conclude that round within 20 days. The top teams selected from the first round will play a knockout round. The final phase of the tournament will be played after New Year holidays.
Indrajith said that the SLSCA was looking at the possibility of conducting a girls’ Under-19 tournament as well.
The possibilities of starting the Under-15 and 17 tournaments will be looked into after reviewing the success of the Under-19 tournament.
“Generally the Under-15 and 17 tournaments start in the months of May and June. The success of the Under-19 tournament will help us start those tournaments as well. Students missed lot of time on their education last year. That is something that will be given consideration when starting sports activities in the junior category,” said Indrajith.
Schools cricket, like all other sports activities, came to a halt in March last year when the Under-19 tournament was reaching the final stage due to the pandemic. There were requests to conclude the stalled tournaments when the number of Covid 19 positive cases dropped as the interruption impacted teams seeking promotions to higher Divisions. Efforts by the SLSCA to recommence cricket last year found futile as the Ministry of Education did not grant permission to conduct sports events for school children.
However, the tournaments which were not concluded last year will not recommence. A number of annual Big Matches were also not held last year.
By Reemus Fernando
Ratnayake Central, Walala runner Tharushi Karunaratne and Holy Cross College, Gampaha sprinter Jayeshi Uththara shared the silver and bronze medals respectively of the women’s 400 metres to give a winning start to Sri Lanka’s Asian Junior Athletics Championship campaign on day one of the event in South Korea on Sunday.
Karunaratne and Uththara reached the final as the second and third fastest from the heats held in the morning and those positions remained unchanged as they finished second and third respectively in the final.
Karunaratne clocked 53.70 seconds to finish second behind India’s Rezoana Mallick Heena who returned a time of 53.31 seconds for the gold. Uththara clocked 55.51 seconds for her bronze.
Commenting on their achievements Sri Lanka Athletics in a statement said that it was the first time in almost three decades that two Sri Lankan female athletes had won medals in a single event at the Asian Junior Championships.
The track and field governing body was referring to the gold and silver doubles of legendary Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha who shared the gold and silver medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres with championship records at the 1994 edition held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
At the last edition held in Gifu, Japan Sri Lanka’s men’s pair of Aruna Dharshana and Pasindu Kodikara won the gold and silver medals in the men’s 400 metres. Karunaratne who is trained by veteran coach Susantha Fernando is set to compete in the women’s 800 metres final today where she will be the favourite for gold.
She returned an Asian leading time of 2:01.39 seconds at the selection trail held in March though her preparation for the event was plagued by a sickness forcing her to skip the recently held Junior National Championships. Tharushi will enter today’s race as the third fastest 800 metres runner in the world this year.
Sri Lanka came up with a dominant show with both bat and ball to stage a strong comeback and level the three-match series against Afghanistan on Sunday (June 4). Having lost the first ODI, the hosts staged a commendable comeback with their top four laying the platform for a 300-plus total which was then defended with ease as Afghanistan fell short by 132 runs.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 323/6 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 78, Dimuth Karunaratne 52; Mohammad Nabi 2/52) beat Afghanistan 191 in 42.1 overs (Hashmatullah Shahidi 57, Ibrahim Zadran 54; Dhananjaya de Silva 3/39) by 132 runs
Led by a fine half-century from Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka put up a collective effort to post 323/6 having opting to bat against Afghanistan in the second ODI at Hambantota on Sunday (June 4).
Having suffered a heavy defeat in the opening game of the series, the Lankans needed to bounce back strongly. The foundation for a big score was set up by openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka whose 82-run stand set the tone for the innings. Although they fell in quick succession, Mendis kept the momentum going with good support from Sadeera Samarawickrama, with the pair adding 88 for the third wicket.
There was a mini-collapse towards the end but the trio of Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva ensured that the hard work of the top order batters didn’t go to waste. The final six overs produced 68 runs as the hosts got an above-par total on a used surface. Unlike the first ODI, Afghanistan’s bowlers lacked the bite with the spinners being surprisingly inept.
It appears to be another fine batting surface but with the track being used once already, it is on the slower side and the Sri Lankan spinners should get some purchase.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 323-6 (Kusal Mendis 78, Dimuth Karunaratne 52, Nabi 2-52, Fareed 2-61) vs Afghanistan
(Cricbuzz)
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