Sri Lanka and England Young Lions front up for U-19 ODI series

England Young Lions practice at the SSC grounds in preparation for the series

Sri Lanka celebrate their 5-0 win over Bangladesh in the Under-19 series

Barring bad weather, a closely fought out five-match Under-19 ODI series can be expected when Sri Lanka and England Young Lions meet in the first match at the SSC grounds today.

Both teams are coming on the back of ODI series wins – Sri Lanka having beaten the current Under-19 World Cup champions Bangladesh 5-0 and England Young Lions a 4-2 win over West Indies in a six-match Under-19 series played at home.  

For the two teams this series will be a lead up to the Under-19 World Cup in the West Indies in January, and they will be using it to finalise their respective squads for the mega event.

For Sri Lanka it is an opportunity to see some of the newcomers to the squad and for them to get a better idea of what their opening batting combination would be as well as their wicket-keepers. The players who performed in the roles in these two areas were found wanting during the Bangladesh series.

“The opening berth and wicket-keeper that is one of the reasons why we brought in the new wicketkeeper and middle order bat Anjala Bandara. Once we have a look at him in the middle, we can decide who is no. 1 and no. 2 when it comes to wicket-keeping and opening slots,” said Sri Lanka Under-19 Coach Avishka Gunawardene.

“We are looking at someone like wicket-keeping and opening bat because moving forward it seems like in white-ball cricket it is the way to go. Sadeesh (Jayawardena) is an opener/wicket-keeper and Anjala has batted at 2 and 3. It’s a kind of a new role for him. When we look at our middle order it is more or less settled. To balance the team, he will have to open when you look at the line-up,” he said.

Gunawardene is a great believer that Sri Lanka should consistently play three fast bowlers in their side.

“Moving forward we are trying to keep three fast bowlers in the eleven all the time. One of the reasons is we are playing the U-19 World Cup in the West Indies, the other is we need to push to play three fast bowlers all the time. Chamindu Wickramasinghe has come out as an opener, and he looks good. That has given me the cushion to play the third seamer at the back end, which is another plus point for us.”

Gunawardene admitted that they are not fully conversant with the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.

“We have seen glimpses of a few video clips of the series England played against the West Indies. They’ve got four spinners in the side, a couple of spin bowling all-rounders and two specialist spinners. Other than that, not much information.”

The England squad of 19 players comprises of 15 of the 17 players who appeared in the six-match Under-19 ODI series against West Indies. Although England won the series 4-2, two of the matches could have gone either way with the home team winning by one wicket on each occasion.

England Young Lions head Coach Richard Dawson said: “It’s a great opportunity for our squad to experience touring the sub-continent. It will give them a chance to play in a pressurised environment against their international peers in unfamiliar conditions.”

In bilateral contests between the two sides England have not beaten Sri Lanka since 2005. The three series that followed had ended in a 2-all draw in 2010, and wins for Sri Lanka by 3-1 (2011) and 3-0 (2016) margins. - (ST)