Cricket travels in earnest to Jaffna
Work on the first turf wicket in the war- ravaged North will begin at the end of this month, with St. Patrick’s College Jaffna becoming the proud recipient of this facility.
Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told the Sunday Times, “On May 26 and 27 we are hoping to have two practice matches in the area and talented cricketers who have gone through the initial sifting process will be playing under the watchful eyes of the national selectors. At the conclusion of the programme we will also launch the programme for the turf wicket in the school.”
“We are hoping to have four to five strips at this location. Besides this we have also launched a programme to develop the game in the North and the East. These will be side concrete wickets for practice purposes. Under this programme between 60 and 90 cement wickets will be installed in the two areas. This programme will be instituted in conjunction with the Foundation for Goodness Programme which is headed by former cricketer Kushil Gunasekera. The wickets will be constructed by the Army and the cement for the entire project will be donated by Tokyo cement.”
In a precursor to these moves, the SLC National Coaching Department conducted a two- day program on May 8 and 9 at St. John’s College , Jaffna to search for young talent at the age group level and educate cricket coaches from districts such as ' Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Killinochchi and Mannar.
On its first day the talent search programme saw the attendance of 110 budding cricketers from the age groups of U-14 to U-19. The cricketers were from various schools and represented their dstricts in the Northern Provincial program. Cricketers identified with talent will continue to work under the watchful eye of their respective district coach, while any cricketers identified with extreme talent will be drafted into the national age group squads which are managed by the SLC National Coaching Department.
The following day a ' Coach Education Programme' was conducted for all cricket coaches in the Northern Province. This programme was attended by forty- eight coaches and was conducted successfully. Apart from cricket, the teachings also included a lesson on Physiotherapy in the effort of sharing one’s knowledge and creating awareness with regard to the importance of this area related to injury management of young cricketers, which is a common feature in today's context.
The SLC also linked up with the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association in conducting a program for the Schools’ Masters- inCharge involved in cricket with regard to the duties one is expected to perform during his or her involvement. This programme was attended by thirty-five participants.
The Coach Education Unit of the SLC national coaching department conducted this programme with the assistance of Naveed Nawaz ( U- 19 Na- tional Coach), Upul Chandana ( U- 19 Fielding Coach), Piyal Wijetunga ( National Spin Bowling Coach), Prabath Nissanka (U-19 Fast Bowling Coach), J.C Gamage and Heshan De Mel (Coach Educators).
While the SLC provincial and district coaching network was utilized in organizing and conducting this two- day program, the occasion was also graced by the Secretary of the Jaffna District Cricket Association.
The head of Sri Lanka Cricket’s coaching department, Jerome Jayaratne, speaking to the Sunday Times explained, “Our coaches reported that they saw a huge improvement among the different age groups that they sifted through during their programme in comparison to the stage it was eighteen months ago. They also reported that the commitment among the youngsters was truly amazing.”
However Jayaratne also stated that if the game is to be improved and brought up to the levels of the rest of the country, the authorities will have to improve the basic facilities at ground level. He said, “In the entire district there are no turf wickets.
This is a huge drawback. Now they depend on basic matting wickets and synthetic wickets laid on cement tracks. This may be okay at the elementary stages, but once they come into the competitive levels they need to have some sort of background playing on turf, if not the conversion may be difficult for them.”