Singer Sri Lanka Girls Under-19 Cricket Tournament 2019
With Devapathiraja Girls School, Rathgama, emerging champions in the 6th Singer Sri Lanka Under (U)-19 Girls Cricket tournament for the 4th consecutive year, the curtain came down on the 2019 Girls’ Cricket season at Thurstan College Grounds recently.
Champika Weeratunga is confident that SLSCA will reach out to the junior age groups - Pix by Ranjith Perera
The 6th Edition saw 34 Girls Schools again competing in the tournament. The Sunday Times spoke to Ms Champika Weeratunga, Tournament Secretary of the Girls segment of the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) and Deputy Principal of CWW Kannangara College, on the progress of Girls Cricket in the island.
Champika Weeratunga
Ms Weeratunga said that, as this is the only Cricket competition for Girls U-19, the SLSCA, with the idea of spreading the game to Junior levels, in 2014, organised a tape ball Cricket tournament in the age groups of U-13, U-15 and U-17. However, it didn’t fulfill the SLSCA’s objectives, as the response was found wanting. In a bid to popularise the game in the suburbs and rural areas, this tournament, from the semifinals onwards, all matches were televised live via the internet.
Ms Weeratunga said that she is happy with the progress made by the competing schools’ players, as the tournament had become highly competitive, compared with the earlier years. For example, she cited two-time winners and three-time runners-up Anula Vidyalaya lost to Rathnavali Balika Vidyalaya, Gampaha, while Wadduwa Central Girls too exhibited a highly improved performance throughout the tournament in coming to the semifinals.
The SLSCA planned to organise an U-19 Provincial Tournament with SLSCA Secretary Dilshan De Silva at the helm but, sad to say, it never came to fruition due to financial constrains.
As the Girls U-19 tournament is the launch pad for the Women’s national team, at the conclusion of every tournament, a list of those who fared well is submitted to the Sri Lanka Cricket Development Unit, to be taken under the SLC’s wings for further training.
In conclusion, she said the standard of Cricket in Girls Schools is in a sound standard, as in the past 3-4 years, 4 schoolgirls have won National colours.
SLSCA Secretary Dilshan De Silva stressed on the value of conducting the Singer U-19 Cricket tournament, as it is the nursery which produces National level cricketers. Girls have to be caught young, as most of them play the game from 16 years to about 28 years, and then give up. But boys are involved in the game till about 35-36 years. He also emphasised on the value of staging a Provincial Cricket Tournament for Girls
He paid glowing tribute to the outstation schools from far places like Anuradhapura and Moneragala, for taking part in the competition every year .
He expects to popularize the game islandwide, in collaboration with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). It will be a gigantic task. The SLSCA expects to be in touch with the principals and masters-in-charge of Provincial schools and encourage them to play the game, and later, form a training pool with the help of the provincial coaches, with the best lot to be absorbed into the SLC’s Development Unit, he concluded.