Sri Lanka out to stretch England

by Ranjan ANANDAPPA

CRICKET: Tours may come and tours may go, but, a cricket tour to England by any team is something special.

There is no exception when the Sri Lanka Under 19 team take wing to the United Kingdom in the early hours of Wednesday to play two ‘Unofficial Test’ matches, two T20 matches and five limited over matches against their counterparts.

The speciality in a tour to the UK is playing in entirely different conditions from the sub-continent and of course on true wickets which many teams have to counter and which gives both the bowlers and the batsmen equal chances.

Referring to this aspect, the Sri Lanka Under 19 coach Naveed Nawaz, he himself a former under 19 player who has been on many tours including England, said that getting acclimatized quickly to the conditions is an important aspect. Most of the players in the squad have been playing together for some time, and the understanding is good, and they are experienced enough to adopt to the conditions quickly.

“Getting used to English conditions cannot be done in Sri Lanka, we have six days including a side game prior to the first Youth Test which begins on July 21”, Nawaz said.

There are ten players who were members of the last Youth World Cup staged in New Zealand last year and they are an experienced bunch.

They are skipper Chatura Peiris and his deputy Kithruwan Vithanage who were skipper and deputy in New Zealand. Dashing left-hander Bhanuka Rajapakse, Charith Jayampathy, Romesh Buddika, Denuwan Rajakaruna, Danushka Gunatileka, Akshu Fernando, Tharanga Rajaguru and Lahiru Jayaratne.

“The team is strong in batting and with four quick bowlers and two top spinners, back-up by bowling and batting allrounders, we expect to give a good run to the English counterparts who are difficult customers to deal with in their own backyard.

The talent in the team is amazing and we hope to expose some new players so that they could also get the needed exposure.

We should be grateful for Sri Lanka Cricket for arranging tours of this nature which is good for the future” Coach Nawaz said.

There are eleven players from the Colombo Schools in contrast to the other tours which had more from outstations, which is a good sign that the Colombo School cricketers are finding their way back.

The Itinerary July 21 - 24 1st Youth Test England Vs Sri Lanka at County Ground, Northamton July 27-30 2nd Test England Vs Sri Lanka at North, Marine Road ground, Scarborough. August 31st T20 England Vs Sri Lanka at Riverside Ground. Chester-lee-Street. August 3; 2nd T20 at at Riverside Grounds, Chester-lee-Street, August 7; 1st ODI at FP Fenner Ground, Cambridge. August 9; 2nd ODI at Arundel Castle CC Grounds. August 10; 3rd ODI at Arundel Castle CC Grounds. August 12; 4th ODI St. Lawrence Grounds, Canterbury. August 13; 5th ODI St. Lawrence Grounds, Canterbury.