Under-19 coach Kalpage confident ahead of first ODI with England Lions

• Says "we have skills to beat England, if we use conditions well"

Sri Lanka Under-19 coach Ruwan Kalpage believes if his players can use the conditions well on the day, they have the skills to beat England Lions in the three-match Youth ODI series starting at Chelmsford today.

“We have got a decent bowling attack and a decent batting line-up. With the experience of Pulindu Perera and skipper Dinuka Kalupahana, if the other players bat around, I believe that our boys will play well,” said Kalpage. “I don’t have any doubts about the team. We have the skills, we just need to use the conditions really well on that particular day. That is the important part.”

As preparation for the series, Sri Lanka U19 cricketers and England Lions both played a warm-up match against Young Lions Invitational XI at Loughborough University grounds on successive days and both won their matches. 

Pulindu Perera scored a century for Sri Lanka U19 and Rocky Flintoff, son of former England cricketer Freddie Flintoff, a century for England Lions. With the sun on their backs there was less swing for the quicker bowlers and the Sri Lanka batsmen excelled chasing down a tall target of 282.

Kalpage said the practice facilities have been very good at Loughborough University. “We had centre-wicket training, side nets, plus the ground for the last two days and the players had a good opportunity for training. Our players received good exposure playing the one-day warm-up match. We were able to start on a positive note with a win. It gives a lot of encouragement for the ODI series.”

Kalpage, a former Sri Lanka cricketer and coach, said the tour of England was all about building up the next generation of cricketers. “This tour is giving last year’s World Cup players the opportunity to shine and come up and make use of the experience to gain entry into the national team. If you take the past Under-19 tours to Australia and England, several players have gone on to play for the country and stayed in the team for several years. That is the exposure I am looking at giving them as coach,” said Kalpage.

“We are playing at different venues and it is good exposure to travel as well as play, so that any day when they travel to England they will know how cricket is played here. I have 18 players in the squad, if I can make 12 of them go and represent Sri Lanka, it will be a big achievement.”

“Exposure-wise there isn’t anyone here who can play in the next Under-19 World Cup in 2026. The majority of players can still play for their school next year. The team is a mix with last year’s World Cup players. In the pool of 26 players, there was only one player from St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa that qualified to play in the next Under-19 World Cup.”

The second and third Youth ODIs will be played on 1 and 3 July at Hove.