Former Sri Lanka captain and cricketer Mahela Jayawardene has made his mark outside the playing area by making a presentation to restructure the domestic cricket and schools tournaments to yield meaningful results, The Nation learns.
Jayawardene who retired from international cricket at the end of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last month is of the view that the age for school cricket should be raised to 20 years from the present 19.
According to Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee sources, Jayawardene’s concept has been hailed as “good” especially the cricket part of it.
Jayawardene, who has expressed concerns about the current domestic cricket and school structures, wants to have a decentralized domestic tournament by tagging the clubs to the provinces and making the cricket very competitive.
The current domestic structure is largely centred on club cricket where 14 clubs play 3-day first-class matches in the Premier division, but the majority of matches played are hardly of a competitive nature and as a result players coming through this system find it extremely difficult to bridge the gap between domestic and Test cricket.
Apart from making school cricket under 20, Jayawardene has recommended that the maximum number of matches played by each school for a season should not exceed 16.
He has also suggested that the schools to be tagged to the provinces in each district when it comes to tournaments and clubs to the provinces on a permanent basis.
The appointment of an interim committee headed by former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Sidath Wettimuny to administer cricket in the country at the beginning of the month saw Jayawardene come forward to assist them as a honorary consultant to help develop the game at grass root level and improve the school cricket structure overall.
Jayawardene, 37 who has a wealth of experience having played first-class and international cricket for 18 years, is the most capped Sri Lanka cricketer with 149 Tests and 448 ODI appearances.
Interim committee sources stated that they would look into the views expressed by Jayawardene and take a decision on it shortly.
http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/39942-mahela-makes-his-mark-outside-the-boundary-line.html
Jayawardene who retired from international cricket at the end of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last month is of the view that the age for school cricket should be raised to 20 years from the present 19.
According to Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee sources, Jayawardene’s concept has been hailed as “good” especially the cricket part of it.
Jayawardene, who has expressed concerns about the current domestic cricket and school structures, wants to have a decentralized domestic tournament by tagging the clubs to the provinces and making the cricket very competitive.
The current domestic structure is largely centred on club cricket where 14 clubs play 3-day first-class matches in the Premier division, but the majority of matches played are hardly of a competitive nature and as a result players coming through this system find it extremely difficult to bridge the gap between domestic and Test cricket.
Apart from making school cricket under 20, Jayawardene has recommended that the maximum number of matches played by each school for a season should not exceed 16.
He has also suggested that the schools to be tagged to the provinces in each district when it comes to tournaments and clubs to the provinces on a permanent basis.
The appointment of an interim committee headed by former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Sidath Wettimuny to administer cricket in the country at the beginning of the month saw Jayawardene come forward to assist them as a honorary consultant to help develop the game at grass root level and improve the school cricket structure overall.
Jayawardene, 37 who has a wealth of experience having played first-class and international cricket for 18 years, is the most capped Sri Lanka cricketer with 149 Tests and 448 ODI appearances.
Interim committee sources stated that they would look into the views expressed by Jayawardene and take a decision on it shortly.
http://www.nation.lk/edition/sport-online/item/39942-mahela-makes-his-mark-outside-the-boundary-line.html