RUWAN KALPAGE, MNGR. HIGH PERFORMANCE, “IT WOULD DO AWAY WITH CATEGORISING PLAYERS”

By Srian Obeyesekere  

Sri Lanka Cricket headed by its far sighted dynamic President, Shammi Silva has set cricket in motion for the future firmly planting 3-day cricket for the schools, which SLC’s imaginative Chief Executive Officer, Ashley de Silva announced yesterday envisaged a 500 million plus financial package prioritizing 56 schools’ big matches while the President, Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association, Thilak Waththuhewa contended that the new concept would see school cricket as essentially the feeder impetus to further strengthening national cricket.

The SLC CEO addressing the media yesterday at the SLC auditorium emphasized that SLCs financial and performance enhancing experts would generate schools cricket on the right footing in upgrading the latent talent at the schools in maximising the cradle of cricket in the country to taking national cricket as a whole to the next level. Benefitting by this concept would be the school cricket periphery fro U13 upwards to the 19 age group.

The President, SLCA was as much spot on in making the point that upgrading school cricket to three days was an exercise that would transform schoolboy talent in muscling them to the harsh rigors of endurance to going the distance temperament-wise that would make schoolboy cricketers the root to creating a stronger national grid in the long run. He stressed that the 3-day format would ensure that players shed the long drawn habit of planning their game for two days to win guided by parents where they would be wearing the serious cap of playing serious cricket of having to adjust to last three days which would toughen them by the very experience. 

Ruwan Kalpage, Manager of SLCs High Performance Center described the move to empowering school cricket in he 3-day format as a huge step forward that would arm and strengthen school cricket. 

The following schools at the grassroots level will be boosted by SLC funding: