SLC Major Club Youth U23 semi-finals, final postponed again

Cricket, the only sport that was active during the COVID-19 pandemic, has finally fallen victim 

• Growing spread of new COVID-19 cases the cause

 By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) Major Club Youth Under-23 semi-finals and final was postponed for a second time yesterday with the growing number of new COVID-19 cases and the subsequent police curfew being imposed in those areas.

“We postponed it today (Sunday) because of the current situation,” said SLC Tournament Committee Chairman Bandula Dissanayake.

“Dematagoda is under police curfew and we are playing a match at the P. Sara Oval. It’s almost next to the venue. There are a lot of places under police curfew, where the parents are not willing to send their children to play the matches as they have a lot of concerns,” he said. A great majority of players figuring in the tournament are either schoolboys or Under-19 cricketers who live with their parents.Yesterday the Government imposed police curfew from 6 p.m. in the Colombo Fort, Pettah, Borella and Welikada police areas. Borella and Welikada are adjacent to the P. Sara Oval, which was to be the venue for one of the Youth Under-23 semi-final matches between SSC and Badureliya CC.

The other semi-final match between defending champions Colts and Lankan CC was to be played at the NCC grounds.

The semi-finals were due to take place tomorrow, and the final on 29 October.

The Major Club T20 that was due to commence on 22 October has also been pushed back due to the current situation. 

“We will have to wait until next week to see whether there are any developments and then take it from there,” said Dissanayake.

The Major Youth Under-23 was first postponed on 7 October and was set to resume tomorrow after SLC got the green light from the Ministry of Health. However, the fast spread of COVID-19 cases on a daily basis has nullified that effort.