Cricket: ‘Airtel Fastest’ selects 45 bowlers for round two

The Airtel Fastest first round came to an end yesterday at the Thurstan College cricket ground in Stanley Wijesundera Mawatha, Colombo, when the final 45 bowlers were picked for the second round. 

Out of the 145 initial pool that was selected, the organisers selected the top 45 fastest bowlers for the second round which will commence with a coaching camp. 

The coaching camp is said to focus the youngsters on key attributes like biomechanics of fast bowling, fitness, endurance, speed and agility. 

Speaking at the top 45 selection, Anusha Samaranyake, the coach behind the programme said, “The players that we have identified through Airtel Fastest have great potential which we can nurture and bring up-to the international standards. The programme is a huge service to the sport itself to identify much needed talent to represent the country”. 

Promising to travel the length and breadth of the country to unearth grass-root talent ‘Airtel Fastest’ spanned through 11 trial locations across the country. 

The talent hunt was initially conducted in Jaffna, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Matara, Badulla, Ruwanwella, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Kandy, Horana and Colombo. 

A total number of 145 fast bowlers were selected from the initial programme under three categories; Under-19 and Over-19 for boys as well as an Open category for girls. 

A hunt to identify Sri Lanka’s undiscovered fastest bowling talent, with a view to enriching the national fast bowling talent pool, ‘Airtel Fastest’ will challenge the amateur bowlers in different forms and five fast bowlers will be selected for the final round. 

For the second round of ‘Airtel Fastest’, 18 players will be selected from both the Under-19 and Over-19 level while nine players will be selected from the Open girl`s category.