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Domestic cricket in any country definitely forms an integral part for the success of the sport. A proper domestic structure therefore is bound to give good results in the long run and the bigger picture is definite to be that much nicer when this happens. Obviously domestic tournaments serves as indicator to the selectors and tougher the competition it is healthier! Sri Lanka currently has the Inter Provincial League Tournament, The Inter Provincial Limited Over and the T 20 as the main tournaments with the Premier League and the Limited over as the feeder for the said Provincial tournament. My focus today is on the U 23 and the proposed U 21 youth tournaments!
In the current year Sri Lanka cricket has introduced a U 21 Inter District Tournament, with nine teams including a team from the North and East, which runs concurrently with the U 23 League tournament for the clubs. The brainchild of the Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket who wanted to take cricket to the villages and identify the talented and the under privileged cricketer! Commenting on the formation of the tournament, Chairman D.S.De Silva stated, “ I have identified that there are many cricketers who are lost to cricket after leaving school especially in the outstations and the purpose of an U 21 District tournament is to ensure that they are not lost.” “ Also we have not forgotten the player in school. He too could compete to find a place in a District team.”
The U-23 tournament which is in progress right now |
Definitely an excellent thought and one must admit that it is the right way to set about getting the younger cricketers back in to the game and protecting those already there. Especially with a combined team from the North and East participating, which was a forgotten area until recently, Sri Lanka will be able to derive an enormous benefit out of it. I am sure people watching the recent school sixes organized by the Old Weslyites witnessed the talent of the team from the North. Hence it will be no surprise to witness a future star emerging to the national team from the North and the U 21 district tournament can serve as the opening they badly need. Also most cricketers from the distant outstation either have no means to come to Colombo and play the game or simply have no faith in the system as generally the players from privileged schools are absorbed by the clubs and hence it’s very rare that the type of player referred here is identified and recognized. As such the thinking and the argument that most players after leaving school are lost to the game has definite substance.
However the only negative issue of the tournament could be the timing of it as it is slotted midweek where the players have to leave their respective U 23 squads and go back to their districts and return almost in next to no time. This is a challenge for the outstation cricketer who would in actual sense be doing more travelling than really practicing which could question the practicality of the whole affair. The authorities will agree that this is a situation which needs to be addressed immediately to smoothen these rough edges.
That apart, the U 21 District Tournament will serve not just as an opportunity but as a talent search too, as players could be picked up at a reasonably young age and directed to coaches who are bound to polish their skills and move them along. In addition it benefits the player as well as he doesn’t get lost or isolated from the game. And most of all if properly organized it is a definite step in the right direction and it will help to filter the cream into the main stream.
Sri Lanka Cricket and the Chairman in particular should be congratulated for formulating a committee of eminent persons which included the selection committee headed by Aravinda De Silva, two former Chairmen of the Tournament Committee and other officials to study this situation and come up with a solution rather than rely on one’s gut feel. Further what is commendable here is, unlike in some cases in the past, Sri Lanka Cricket hasn’t looked to disband the club structure fully either, which is a point that shouldn’t be lost in the eyes of the cricketing public.
The Chairman D.S De Silva and others both in the Interim Committee and serving Sri Lanka Cricket have been products of club cricket in Sri Lanka and should understand the importance of it and the service it has rendered for cricket in the country. I am sure they are aware that clubs whose members work in an honorary capacity and invests millions of rupees to the game is a valuable part in the local cricketing structure and as such giving it the prominence it deserves is prudent thinking. And on that score it is also commendable that the Premier U 23 tournament has been made a three day affair giving the younger players the opportunity and know-how to adjust and adapt to the longer version of the game which is the need of the hour! At a time when school cricket is attempting to play T 20 cricket and children who are U 15 are bowling in power plays without understanding it, concentrating on the longer version at U 23 level should be appreciated.
And on the topic of School Cricket, one must remember that His Excellency the President appointed the current Chairman D.S.De Silva initially to overlook the running of school cricket and one wonders whether De Silva is aware of the goings on with the game at age group level in schools and the damage it has started to cause to the young cricketer. If not this column appeals to him to intervene in his capacity and stop this nonsense of T 20 cricket in schools with stringent cricket rules applicable to the senior game such as power plays etc. being forced on the younger generation. Young kids taking to the game should be encouraged to enjoy it and not be burdened by the tough rules and regulations the game carries or a child may grow up to be a man much earlier than his time, missing out on the enjoyment he would have otherwise had playing cricket!
Getting back to the domestic youth tournament, one complaint would be the scrapping of the U 23 limited over tournament which was extremely successful the last year which was also its inaugural year. I am sure the committee sitting to formulate the structure would have surely considered this scenario with the player burn out being a possible contention. However it was the thinking of the SLC that a limited over tournament played amongst strong club teams at U 23 level would serve to develop the players in the shorter version and hence scrapping of the said tournament was baffling to many. It is therefore worth to find out the thinking of the committee who formulated the entire tournament process as to why the U 23 limited over is not on this year.
Finally and most importantly tournaments such as the U 21 District tournament which is to serve the under privileged young cricketer, if found successful should be preserved, protecting the already existing U 23 tournament in its new format to ensure the longevity of youth cricket.
* Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator |
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