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Sports

Nineteens a disappointment
For two weeks cricketers under nineteen years of age, from sixteen different nations displayed their skills in Colombo. Most of the teams arrived early to get some additional experience of the local conditions. Sadly, the interest amongst the locals was lacking up until the finals.

The tournament itself was well organized. It is a splendid idea to stage this event every two years. It is also great that after the first round of three games for each team, There is a plate tournament for the bottom eight and the others too continue to play for the top eight position. Enough cricket to make the tournament a worthwhile experience for the youngsters who participate.

But what about the home team? Disappointing to say the least. They ended losing to Bangladesh in the fifth place play off, after having been whipped off their feet by the Australians in the quarter finals. Sri Lanka definitely had the home advantage yet the players were not good enough to impress. Having watched every single delivery of the semi final games and the final from the commentary box, I must say that Sri Lanka should have done far better than their concluded position.

The first and the biggest mistake they made was to select a pool some eighteen months or so ago and almost premeditated as to who a majority of the squad was going to be. Certainly preparation could have begun then, but possibly four squads aligned to the South, West (two squads) and Central Provinces should have been selected with additions or reductions carried out periodically.

Teams for any tours at home or abroad should have been selected from these squads. There would be an expense involved, but then there is also an expense involved when players have to be brought and housed in Colombo. The build-up must be in the relevant provinces. That is the way to unearth talent. Not by looking at score sheets and selecting squads. True score sheets are an indication, a guideline, but they do not paint the true picture.

To add to this young cricketers develop fast. As a school coach I have witnessed players take giant steps forward in short spaces of time. Some develop with every experience and the development of others stop or slow down with time. Therefore to have permanent fixtures in the team from too long before a tournament such as this is not the way to go. So often during this long period the squad player missed out on inter school fixtures.

There were many instances where they could have been out playing, because at this age every outing to the middle is valuable, every century scored, every five wickets bagged is a tremendous boost to the confidence of these youngsters.

There is an old theory that it is best to concentrate on one day cricket when preparing for a tournament such as this. That is outdated. Today, players must be prepared to adjust their game, the mental, physical and technical approach according to the requirement of the day.

The team that finished as Champions Pakistan, had begun their campaign in earnest only a few months before. Whatever International Cricket that was arranged, and the customary domestic games went on with the players participation. At that time a squad of those in the best form and fitness had been selected and from that the final squad. It makes sense to permit the players to carry on with their day-to-day work.

The under nineteen World Cup has come to stay. It is evident that most of the Test playing nations emphasized much on developing players and the team through this event. Sri Lanka must get their act together, formulate a system which brings the best players together and the desired results when the tournaments is conducted two years hence.

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