East West Schools XI hoping to get maximum exposure

Chris Dhambarage

The East West Schools Invitation XI will be hoping to get the maximum exposure by participating in the Sri Lanka Cricket organized inaugural SLT Inter Provincial Twenty20 limited overs tournament which began at the Colts CC and BRC grounds in Havelock Park yesterday.

Their participation in fact is a historic occasion because this is the first time that a schools team is competing in a major tournament organized by the SLC. This idea of course was mooted by the former Sri Lanka leg spinner D. Somachandra de Silva who was recently appointed as the Advisor and Consultant to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the development of schools cricket in the country.

However the schools team would have not made it to this tournament if not for the prompt action and kind gesture of Kangadaran Mathiwanan who is also the Secretary of the Interim Committee SLC. Mathiwanan Chairman and Managing Director of East West Marketing Limited responded immediately following the request made by Sidath Wettimuny and Nishantha Ranatunga who are the live wires behind the organizing of this mega event.

The East West Marketing Limited in fact is synonymous with cricket as the company employs more than 40 players who are involved in the SLC Premier League Tier A and Tier B tournaments as well as in the Singer MCA Premier tournaments.

Mathiwanan said that his company his pleased to be associated with this inaugural Inter Provincial Twenty20 format which seem to be the latest trend in World cricket following the lucrative Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the high profile Indian Premier League (IPL) which will be worked off during the same period.

Meanwhile the coach of the Schools Invitation XI Roger Wijesuriya said that he is happy to be associated with the boys once again following their participation at the International Cricket Council under 19 World Cup staged in Malaysia recently.

He said that this tournament will provide a good opportunity for the players to display their skills under pressure while competing against some of the top ranked players who have excelled in the domestic scene during the past few years.

Wijesuriya stressed the importance of this tournament for the schoolboys because their participation will also increase their standard and will turn them more mature while playing under different circumstances.

This was quite clear at the under 19 World Cup because most of the Indian players were quite matured and had a great amount of experience behind them having played in the Ranji Trophy tournament while the England and the Australian players had similar experience having represented their counties and the Sheffield Shield tournaments respectively.

The Sri Lankan coach feels that this could be just the beginning of a new era of schools cricket in the country as they are also hoping to participate in the SLC organized under 23 tournament. Wijesuriya said that schools cricket alone is insufficient for the development of the game and they could realize where the team stands now by competing in tournaments of this nature.

The present team comprise of players in the under 17 and under 19 age group and will be captained by wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal. The schoolboy of Ananda College had a successful series at the under 19 World Cup in Malaysia where he won the man of the match award in the league match against Australia while claiming five victims behind the stumps.

Vice captain Kusal Perera, all rounder Angelo Perera, fast bowler Chatura Peiris, and spinner Naveen Kavikara are the rest of the members who represented the country at the under 19 World Cup. However the cynosure of all eyes will be on fast bowler Lahiru Jayaratne of Christ Church College Matale who was spotted by former Sri Lanka captain Aravinda de Silva during the recent coaching camp held in Dambulla.