SLC eager to resume women’s cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is awaiting the clearance from health authorities to resume Women’s District and Provincial Under-23 tournaments in a bid to scout for new talent in preparation for the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup to be held next year.
"We initiated lot of big matches and were planning to conduct District and Provincial Under-23 tournaments before the epidemic happened," said Apsari Tillakaratne, who began her second stint as SLC’s Women’s Cricket (Domestic) Coordinator in January.
"We are hoping to play district tournaments once we get the clearance. From there only we will be selecting the national development squad," said Apsari, who is confident of fielding a formidable team at the World Cup which is likely to be postponed to 2022.
"We need young talent. My priority is to find new talent and to give them an opportunity. That’s why we are playing big matches to promote the game among schools," said Apsari, who was instrumental in building a national pathway for women’s cricket in the districts of the country when she was first appointed Convener of Women’s Cricket in 2016.
With the help of other coaches and associations, they introduced an Under-23 District and Provincial Tournament for girls in 2017. They encouraged various schools to play matches.
"There were so many schools three years back. This year again we started in February for a month before the COVID-19 outbreak. I got a few schools lined in Ampara, Kantale, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. We were to play big matches in Jaffna and Vavuniya for the first time. Hopeful I am trying after they (schools) reopen," said Apsari, who feels there is abundant talent out of Colombo.
She is back in the saddle after her contract was not renewed last year, being away from the scene for seven months.
"We are hoping to find new talent from these tournaments. We have lot of natural talent throughout the country. They have improved a lot. We will be able to find a good young team for the World Cup if we give them proper coaching and guidance," said Apsari, wife of former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne.
With the retirement of veterans Shashikala Siriwardena and Sripali Weerakkody, women’s cricket certainly needs new talent to emerge as a feeder to the national team and Apsari's vision is to help the national women's team maintain its status with constant feeding of potential talents.