With the national team set to be busy with plenty of international commitments in the next 12 months leading up to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England & Wales, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has arranged plenty of inbound and outbound tours for the Sri Lanka ‘A’, Sri Lanka Emerging and Sri Lanka U19 teams in the final six months of 2018.
The need to invest more on ‘A’ team cricket
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Throughout the first half of 2018, the players were heavily involved in the Inter-Club and Super Provincial tournaments meaning that the board is now free to pick the best performers to be tested against formidable international opponents in the second half of 2018.
It is essential to have ‘A’ team cricket being played whenever possible as proven in the past as it is the feeded to the national team. Last year during the Sri Lanka ‘A’ tour of West Indies, Dhananjaya De Silva and Roshen Silva performed well and a few months later, they managed to build on their performances by doing well in the Test team too.
Players like Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando and Wanindu Hasaranga were fast-tracked to the national team in recent times due to their stellar performances with the U19 team while young stars such as Kusal Mendis, Amila Aponso and Sadeera Samarawickrama found form during Emerging team tours.
The Bangladesh ‘A’ team has confirmed a tour to Sri Lanka to play a couple of unofficial Tests and an ODI while SLC are currently considering sending the ‘A’ team on a tour to Pakistan.
Sri Lanka and South Africa have played Emerging teams’ cricket consistently in the past couple of years and this year too they will be engaged in a tournament, hosted by Sri Lanka.
The Emerging Team’s Asia Cup will also be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in December with the participation of eight Asian teams.
The ICC U19 World Cup was held in New Zealand earlier this year and under a new coach, the Sri Lanka U19s will host a strong Indian side in July and will tour Bangladesh later on for a bilateral series before the Youth Asia Cup in October.
The youngsters involved in these matches will definitely love the opportunity of playing against foreign opponents as Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) makes plans to strengthen their bench and unearth future stars.
Upcoming schedule
U19 Cricket
India U19 tour of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka U19 tour of Bangladesh
U19 Youth Asia CupEmerging Cricket
South Africa Emerging team tour of Sri Lanka
Emerging Teams’ Asia Cup‘A’ team Cricket
Bangladesh ‘A’ tour of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka ‘A’ tour of Pakistan
None of the teams will be in action during the inaugural Lankan Premier League (LPL), a domestic T20 competition scheduled to be held in August/September.
