School age limit fiasco:

Former SLSCA official blows lid off

by SA’ADI THAWFEEQ

Former Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) secretary Dilshan de Silva drove home a few hidden truths about the dispute that arose in school cricket circles when certain interested parties tried to influence the change of the existing age limit from 19 years to 20 and nearly brought chaos to the 2016-17 inter-school cricket season.

Dilshan de Silva serving SLSCA since 1998.

De Silva put the blame for the fiasco squarely on Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) previous administration for initiating the move and for the present officials of trying to play ball with the current set of SLSCA officials.

According to De Silva the idea to change the age rule from under 19 to

under 20 was mooted during the SLC’s interim administration under Sidath Wettimuny and its committee and members. The arguments that were brought for the change was the majority of the schoolboys who have to leave school reaching the age of 19 will not be able to continue their cricket careers as there is no tournament for them to play – the only tournament available was the under 23 conducted by SLC and as a result they were lost to the game. The other point brought was if the age limit was raised there would be more quality cricket played in schools as the 18-16 age group boys will benefit playing with boys of under 20 who would have also matured during that extra year in school. A parallel was drawn that from the 1970s till about 1982 the age limit for school cricket was under 20. He said that the deadline of age limit for schools changed with the commencement of the Under 19 World Cup in 1988 where September 30 was given as the cut-off date.De Silva said that was only one side of the story. However when this new proposal was put forward De Silva who was secretary of SLSCA at the time said that the change could not be done immediately and that the schools must be informed at least one year in advance if a change was to take place. It was also brought to light that during 2005 when Chandrika Kumaratunga was the President of Sri Lanka a similar change took place and there was a lot of resentment to it by several schools.

“Eventually it was we who faced the music and the fingers were pointed at

us,” said De Silva. Speaking further De Silva stated that this proposal for the change took place in August last year and a meeting was held at the end of the month with SLSCA officials and all the school representatives.

“There were about 80 member representatives from the schools and there was no objections raised for the change from 19 to 20. We also got the approval of the SLSCA executive committee,” said De Silva.

“Subsequently letters were sent to the schools in February stating that the change will take place in another six months. Then in April the SLSCA held its AGM and a new set of office-bearers took over,” explained De Silva.

“In May the newly elected committee got hold of the present SLC officials who overlooks school cricket and convinced them to stick to the existing under 19 age rule. This was done at the behest of certain individuals whose sons were playing school cricket.

“We, as past office-bearers and embers of the present SLSCA objected to the change and said that if any further changes were to take place then it should be done at a Special General Meeting. We said this was an issue involving parents of certain schools who wanted their sons to captain the school.

“The new office-bearers to get over the situation went ahead and appointed former sports administrators Sunil Jayaweera as an advisor. They were also told by the then Education Ministry sports director not to make an issue out of it but to settle it amicably with SLC. Jayaweera suggested that the SLSCA forward a letter to the Ministry and get their permission to keep the age rule at 19. SLSCA not only got a letter from the Ministry of Education but also from SLC. Subsequently letters were sent to all the schools that the age rule will remain at 19 for the 2016-17 season,” he said.

“Schools like S Thomas’ College vehemently objected to this change saying that it would be a big disadvantage to the students and a schoolboy from Prince of Wales even filed action against this change stating that it affected his career. But the majority didn’t object. We changed the age limit to 20 because of SLC but eventually we were made to look the scapegoats in the eyes of the media and everyone else,” he continued.

“What this episode clearly shows is the case of parents trying to influence

certain officials of SLC and SLSCA to make changes to the age rule for the

advantage of their children. As there is no policy document for the age group limit similar incidents can take place in the future too,” said De Silva.