Top level meeting this week to unravel school cricket tangle
A meeting is set to take place this week to discuss on the amended structure of Schools first XI cricket according to top officials of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and Sri Lanka School Cricket Association (SLSCA).
Officials of SLC, SLSCA and the Ministries of Education and Sports are expected to sit together at this meeting which will finalise the planned structural changes of the Under-19 Schools Cricket tournaments.
According to suggestions made prior to the commencement of the competition, it was decided that the Schools first XI tournament should only include 16 matches and those games should be played on weekends. But as the tournament progressed there were clear evidence that a majority of schools are neglecting these guidelines. Some schools clearly and publicly have said that they will continue to play over 16 games as they will have to honour their respective traditional encounters. Some schools still have a fixture card which expands up to 22 games for the season. When inquired by Dilshan de Silva, the Secretary of SLSCA, on this matter, he said that the governing body of schools cricket will stick to their proposed guidelines though it is clear that implementation has become a hard task.
“We know that it is not easy to adapt to these changes immediately. Some schools have indicated that they will play more matches than the number of games approved by the proposed plan. But we will only consider the 16 matches they officially provide us to our records. Schools may play beyond the said limits but those will not be taken into account by the SLSCA,” he
The proposed plans are a good attempt to treat all cricket playing schools alike. - File Picture
said.
Meanwhile it is learnt that S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia have decided to pull out of the tournament for reasons better known to them. Unlike schools that compete in the first XI tournament, they appear to follow the proposed guidelines by playing 16 games, only on weekends. An official closer to the school who wished to be unnamed stated that this was a decision taken by the school authorities to help the players focus more on studies and to preserve the quality of the games they play.
“We encouraged schools to play on weekends but it was not mandatory as there is a problem in finding grounds. But there is a strict statute in the new proposal which says that all teams must take a break of 72 hours before their next match. That is a compulsory aspect of the tournament from this year. This rule as well as the new set of proposals will be sanctioned by the two Ministries in due course through a circular to all the schools and the media,” De Silva added.
However the Secretary of the SLSCA, who himself an official of a school, lamented on the lack of focus by the SLC officials to develop school cricket despite plans being discussed between the two sectors of cricket.
“As mentioned earlier, schools need a bit of time to adapt to these changes. Things cannot be implemented overnight. In addition, SLC being the controller of the sport should look into the benefit of the schools. Surely, the school structure needs to be restructured in order to bring up the quality of cricket that is being played. But we must also think that there are school cricket teams coming from different walks of life. There are less privileged schools who cannot afford the same facilities as some of the top schools which have traditions of their own. We must respect all of them and their values while treating all schools competing in the tournament using the same spoon. In that case the proposed plans are a good attempt to treat all cricket playing schools alike.”
A top SLC official confirmed to the Sunday Times that they have made some amendments to the original proposal after sitting together with the SLSCA officials. He also said that the SLC and SLSCA are waiting for an appointment from the two Ministries for a final discussion which is expected to take place in the coming week.
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