No match - Officials blunder, ground not prepared for U17 semi
The Under 17 Division One semi-final encounter between S. Thomas’ College and St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa which was scheduled to be played yesterday at the Surrey Village ground in Maggona was thrown into disarray, with the match not taking place.
Fingers have been pointed at various parties for the match not being played and the ground not being in a suitable condition, which the management of the venue should have ensured.
Dilshan de Silva, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) who are the organizers of the tournament told the Daily Mirror that the venue management had been informed in advance about utilising the venue for this match.
“We verbally informed the venue management a few days ago that we will be needing the venue on the said date of the match and also sent an email request three days ago confirming the date,” he said.
Speaking further he said, “It was unfortunate as the management only informed me of the nonavailability of the ground at 8.00 pm on September 5 (Wednesday) which shocked me.”
Dinesh Kumarasinghe, Director Coach of S. Thomas’ lambasted the officials of the SLSCA and the venue management, saying that it was the young cricketers who had to face the brunt of what he claimed were “sports political problems”.
“It was disappointing and disgusting to see as the team players who did not know that their semi-final match was not going to be played arriving early morning at 6.00 am but only to hear that the venue is not available and the match has been
It was unfortunate as the management only informed me of the nonavailability of the ground at 8.00 pm on September 5
postponed without a fixed date.”
Kumarasinghe further added, “We have been offering our grounds to play matches free of charge when requested by the SLSCA and the governing body SLC and it’s a shame that they cannot find a ground to conduct the semi-final encounter which shows their capabilities.”
According to sources the management of the venue (Surrey Village Grounds) had promised to have the grounds prepared for the semi-final encounter to be played today but that seemed unlikely too as they had informed that it would not be available, and a definite date now remains to be finalized.
The question to be asked is whether is it this way that the officials involved are going to develop cricket at junior level which is the cradle for youngsters looking to fine tune their talent to go greater heights.
Are they encouraging the youngsters or taking revenge at the expense of these young cricketers?
Added to that the U17 team of most of the schools comprise nearly half of the members from the senior team (U19) and with the U19 inter-school cricket season at the doorstep are the officials doing justice for these young cricketers who are denied rest due to the prolonging of the U17 season.
The tournament began in early May and with one semi-final yet to be played it’s left to be seen when the final would be played after which these youngsters will be back on the field to represent their senior teams.