Tillekeratne lauds U-19 fielding

• Says best display in a decade, wants U-19 to play in U-23 tournament

 By Madushka Balasuriya

HashanTillekeratne has hailed the fielding levels of his Under 19 charges during the recently concluded Asia Cup, stating that he has “not seen a better fielding display in the last 10 years.”

“Their fielding, wow, even I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he told Daily FT. “That’s the best fielding effort I have seen. I have genuinely not seen a better fielding display in the last 10 years.”

Tillekeratne, who himself was known for his sharp close-in fielding, was speaking ahead of his team’s home series against Bangladesh starting on 16 October. Since taking over as Under 19 head coach in June he has placed a greater emphasis on physical as well as mental fitness, something which was put to the test in the Asia Cup.

Despite a strong run to the final, Sri Lanka lost out to a strong India outfit by 144 runs. Tillekeratne however was impressed with how his team had taken to his methods, both in the tournament as well as the recent home series against India, where they narrowly lost out 3-2 in the ODIs.

“My theme is ‘chasing a dream together,’ there’s a culture that is being created. We also focused a lot on the boys physical as well as mental fitness, and they have really responded well.

“We all know the Indians are very seasoned campaigners, most of guys have played Ranji Trophy matches. So playing against them, even at home though we lost the series 3-2, I think the players got a lot of experience. I think that helped them play very good cricket in Bangladesh.”

That level of competition is something Tillekeratne wants to see more of his players exposed to at an early stage. Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket has long been lamented by former cricketers as not being strong enough to adequately prepare players for the rigours of international cricket. Tillekeratne feels that until that is the case, his under 19 players should be allowed to play in the domestic Under 23 tournament.

“If we can get them to play in the Under 23 tournament at least they will get some sort of tougher experience. We’re in discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket for our Under 19s to play in our Under 23 domestic tournament. Nothing has been finalised as yet though, we’re still in discussions.”

Sri Lanka Under 19s will host Bangladesh in two four-day matches and five ODIs. The first four-day Test will take place from October 16-19 at the NCC grounds in Colombo.