Avishka happy as Under-19 squad pass fitness test 

by Reemus Fernando    

Sri Lanka Under-19 coach Avishka Gunawardene said that he was extremely happy with the progress made by his charges during the training camp ahead of the team’s first international series against Bangladesh this month.

“I am very happy with the way the team improved during the last couple of weeks and everyone was happy about the way the camp was held. It is a big challenge. The players haven’t played any cricket for some time. They will be playing an international match after more than 18 months,” Gunawardene said in reply to a query by The Island after the training camp held in a bio secure bubble concluded on Wednesday.

The 26-member squad who were selected for both the upcoming series against Bangladesh and England and the next year’s ICC Youth World Cup completed a 22-day residential camp. It was the first time the juniors were trained in a bio secure environment.

“It was the first time that I too went in to a bubble after I took over. It was all about keeping the players occupied, keeping their minds free, letting them enjoy each others company. If you don’t do that it is very difficult to survive in a bubble,” said Gunawardene who will rejoin the squad after they return from a short break.

Gunawardene said that the entire squad of 26 players were eligible to continue training after they passed the fitness test. “The whole squad passed the fitness test. Even the last player to finish the two-kilometer run did well to finish within the stipulated time,” he said.

Gunawardene was part of the Sri Lanka Cricket’s coaching staff before being suspended after the ICC indicated that he was under suspicion. The Under- 19 head coach role is his first major assignment after being cleared of corruption charges by the ICC. He is the only player to have charges against him being cleared from the recent group of former national players to have attracted the suspicion of the ICC’s anticorruption unit.

The excerpts of the interview The Island had with Avishka Gunawardene will appear tomorrow.