Sports
Avishka on Sri Lanka Under-19 prospects
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Under 19 squad comprising 26 players concluded a three weeks long training camp on Wednesday. It was the first training opportunity for junior cricketers after the Covid 19 pandemic hampered sports for more than a year.
Sri Lanka Under-19 will meet their Bangladesh counterparts this month before encountering England in November. The squad of 26 players will continue to train for the ICC Youth World Cup which will be held early next year.
The Island interviewed the Under 19 head coach Avishka Gunawardene after the training camp conducted in a biosecure bubble concluded. Here are the excerpts.
Unlike many previous Under-19 coaches you had only a month to train the team for a series against Bangladesh and will get only a couple of months to prepare them for the ICC Youth World Cup. How do you see the challenge at hand and how has the training gone so far?
“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. Because the players haven’t played any cricket for some time. The Under-19 boys are playing international cricket at least after 18 months. It is challenging because we had only a month to prepare and we have to get the combinations right. We are playing (Bangladesh) to win the series but that is where we will be trying two or three combinations to get them right. For the World Cup, there may be around 100 days to prepare. There is another Under-19 tour planned for November which is England. Asia Cup is in December but it is not confirmed. If that does not happen we will have to get the combinations right during the England tour before the World Cup. That is the only chance we have to get it right.”
When an Under-19 coach is selected he has a general idea of the talent pool that will come under his supervision. But with no schools tournaments conducted due to Covid 19 pandemic, you may not have had an idea about the players before you started to work with them. Can you explain how you cope up with that?
“I have experience in the system. I have been in the system for a very long time. I first went on a tour as a schoolboy in 1992. Since then I have not left the system and I have not left cricket. During my previous tenure, when I was with SLC, I was with the Under-19 team in 2015 and 2016 and we made it to the semi-finals in the World Cup. It is not new to me. But because of the pandemic, there is a challenge. By the time I took over the Under 19, there was a pool of 26 picked by the national selectors. The selectors had a camp in Kandy for 75 players. They had played matches and I am sure the national selectors would have seen them. During the last month, we had a camp and it was a good opportunity for me to get to know how talented they are. And I think that I have a good idea about the players now and what their capabilities are. The challenge I have now is to get the players to play together and jell together because they have not been playing together.
The selectors had included several players from new Division I team Devapathiraja College Rathgama who generally play on matting wickets and Malsha Tharupathi a player from Division III school- Madampa Central. What are your thoughts on them?
The most exciting was the 16-year-old spinner(Tharupathi). This is the first time that he actually bowled on a turf wicket. What I saw in the last few weeks is how he improved, how confident he is. I am very excited to see him. He can play in another World Cup. You don’t find 16-year-old right-arm leg spinners very often. I am pretty excited about him and there is Jeewaka Shasheen (from Devapathiraja) who looks very good. He has a lovely technique and a nice temperament. He is another guy who I will keep an eye on for the future.
How did the young boys got accustomed to living in a biosecure bubble for more than three weeks?
“It was the first time that I too went into a bubble after I took over. It was all about keeping the players occupied, keeping their minds free, letting them enjoy each other’s company. If you don’t do that it is very difficult to survive in a bubble. It is important to keep them together, keep their friendship going, keep them entertained. We had programmes arranged in the evenings like quiz programmes and in-house games and stuff like that. I am very happy how the training camp went and they adjusted pretty well.”
You will get only limited-overs matches during both the Bangladesh and England series. Isn’t it a concern as the players will not be able to compete in the innings format?
“I firmly believe that younger players should play the longer version of cricket more to improve their skills. But at this point, they haven’t had any cricket to play. Since there had been no cricket in the country and since there is a World Cup in less than 100 days I think it is relevant (that we play limited-overs cricket). Basically, the players will have only ten matches before they go for the World Cup. In terms of preparation for the World Cup, it is important to play white-ball cricket.
Not many fast bowlers who excel at the junior level have not gone on to represent Sri Lanka at the senior level. But in Matheesha Pathirana, you have a speedster who has experience playing franchise cricket before even making it to the senior national level. How do you see his future prospects?
“It is interesting. Although he has played one franchise tournament and played in the last World Cup, he has played very little cricket during the last six to seven months. It is important for him to keep his rhythm. He is unorthodox and is an exciting talent. He can bowl fast. With all that he needs to have match practice. That is the most important thing that we are looking at. He has been improving from the time we started the camp. I hope he will show more improvement as we get closer to the World Cup and he will be a good asset there.
The fast bowling department has been the weak link of many junior teams when Youth World Cups were played in conditions supporting quick bowlers. How confident are you of your fast bowling department?
“I am very happy with the fast bowling unit we have in the Under-19 squad. One of the plus points is that there are two or three fast bowlers who can bat well. They are not only giving fast bowling options but add value to the team by coming down the order and adding runs. I hope we can peak them at the right time and go on to play the next level.
Since the team is likely to play only in local conditions before the World Cup how are you going to prepare the team for the challenges in West Indies?
“I have been to the Caribbean a few times. The last time was in 2018. When I was the head coach of the ‘A’ team we went there. From my experience, it is not very different from Sri Lankan conditions. The weather is pretty much similar. And wickets are also quite similar to Sri Lankan conditions. It might actually help spinners from my experience. But they might prepare better wickets since it is a World Cup and an ICC event. I am not, too much worried about West Indies’ conditions.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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