Sri Lanka Cricket coaching department will conduct an Under-17 Inter Provincial Tournament in the two-day format starting today. Five Provincial teams will compete in two-day matches and it is the first time that the SLC coaching department has introduced a two-day format to the Under-17 age category.
They have also restructured the Provincial set up by forming five teams deviating from the previous ten-province structure.
“The idea of the two-day format for the Under-17 category is to provide young cricketers the experience of playing innings matches. Currently our school cricketers play innings matches only at the First XI (Under-19) level. At Under-15 and Under-17 level school cricketers play only limited-overs matches. The two-day format is introduced to provide them the experience. This was approved by the SLC Cricket Committee,” Roger Wijesuriya, Sri Lanka Under-17 coach, told ‘The Island’ yesterday.
“To make it more competitive, the Provincial set up was restructured as well,” he said.
Western Province North, Western Province South, Central-North, Southern and a combined team consisting of players from Northern, Eastern and Uva Provinces and Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam districts will compete in this league tournament with the top two teams to play in a final to decide the ultimate champions.
Each team will play four matches during the league stage.
The tournament will commence with the WP North Vs WP South (at MCA) and Combined XI Vs Central-North (at Dambulla) matches today.
Match schedule:
July 2-3:
WP North Vs. WP South at MCA
Combined XI Vs. Central-North at Dambulla
July 8-9:
WP North Vs. Combined XI at MCA
WP South Vs. Southern at Soysa Ground
July 12-13:
WP North Vs. Central-North at Soysa
Combined XI Vs. Southern at Royal Col
July 15-16:
WP North Vs. Southern at MCA
WP South Vs. Central-North at Pallekele
July 19-20:
Combined XI Vs. WP South at Royal Col
Southern Vs. Central-North at Pallekele
July 22-23:
Final at MCA.
