By Revatha S. Silva
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At least one great legend of the sport, Mahela Jayawardene, to come to the fore to rectify matters[/caption]
At last one legend comes forward to the rescue of Sri Lanka’s cricket, at least in the national Under-19 level. One of the greatest Captains, smartest cricket brains, and finest batsmen produced by the island nation in her recent cricket history, Mahela Jayawardene, has reportedly shown his interest “in principal” to take over as consultant of Sri Lanka Under-19 team from October this year.
One of the brightest things to happen for Sri Lanka’s cricket Jayawardene, if is ready to take over the position following his Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments this year in October in UAE, will guide the young Lankans to next year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) U-19 World Cup.
“We (SLC) are not aware of such a move. The move would have been made by the Technical Committee (headed by Aravinda de Silva),” a senior SLC ex-co official meanwhile disclosed. Our efforts to contact Jayawardene on the possible new appointment were not successful last afternoon.
The 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup, a limited-overs tournament, is scheduled to be held in the West Indies, reportedly early next year with 16 teams taking part. It will be the 14th edition of the tournament and the first to be held in the West Indies. Bangladesh are the defending champions.
Eleven countries, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, have already qualified for the event by virtue of a top-11 finish in the previous (2020) edition.
Sri Lanka finished 10th last year in South Africa. 33 teams, to come through seven regional events to be held this year, will vie for the remaining five spots, the ICC announced last year. Sri Lanka has never won the U-19 World Cup.
The team is also scheduled to play in the Youth Asia Cup and two bilateral series against strong England and India as well this year.