School Cricket format likely to be revamped
The Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) is seriously contemplating on revamping its Under-19 Division I tournament structure in the forthcoming season after the inaugural three-day final failed to accomplish its objective according to its Secretary Kapila Jayalath. Jayalath revealed this in the aftermath of the first-ever Under-19 Division I Championship three-day final, postponed a couple of times and rescheduled to be played by yesterday, was abandoned. As a result the two finalists — St. Peter’s College and St. Sebastian’s College — were declared joint champions by the SLSCA earlier this week after discussing with the two teams.
School cricketers have been a busy bunch this season with a load of competitions to complete - File pic
“There were many issues circling around the intended three-day final with bad weather prevailing in the country for weeks, coming in as the key setback. In addition there were other issues related to academic commitments by the two schools with majority of the players preparing for their G.C.E. Advance Level examination. Hence the amount of cricket these youngsters had to play this season was far too much,” Jayalath told the Sunday Times. The Under-19 Division I Tournament, the main competition conducted by SLSCA, sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka, kicked off in September 2015 and was drafted to complete by April 10 this year.
Despite of the hierarchy change of the SLSCA in the final week of March this year, the tournament continued with the One-Day and Twenty20 competitions running alongside. Added to that most of the Division I teams were engaged in their annual Big Match encounters, which many schools gear up seriously every year. A changed tournament structure by the former SLSCA administrators paved the way for a second round, with more games slotted beginning from the pre-quarter-final stage. Eventually the two finalists — St. Peter’s and St. Sebastian’s — were found but after two postponements earlier even the two schools were unwilling to play the much looked-forward-for three-day final.
“After the final was forced to postpone twice, mainly due to weather, both St. Peter’s and St. Sebastian’s showed their displeasure in playing the final. These are school sides with players having academic commitments and as a responsible sport governing body we had to seriously consider their appeal, after having failed twice to play the final. We have to think from all angles and considering many aspects it was decided to declare them as joint champions, which is the fairest decision at this point,” Jayalath added. Speculations were running high saying that the former SLSCA officials had approved a resolution, to change the Under-19 age category to Under-20 from the coming season.
However Jayalath was resolute that the incumbent SLSCA would seek opinion from all participating schools, where a majority of them are willing to continue with the Under-19 category. ”We’ll have to clearly discuss all these pertaining issues seriously and change the format of the present Under-19 tournament with a comprehensive structure. At the same time there are different opinions about the age category and majority of the schools are not keen to change over to the Under-20 category, which means it too will be a subject of discussion. We will reflect on all aspects to come out with a firmly, neatly and effectively planned tournament from the coming season. The decisions will be made very soon,” Jayalath revealed.