West Indies U-19 cricketers to Sri Lanka after two decades

• Captains should learn to stand on their feet and make decisions: U-19 coach Mubarak

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

West Indies Under-19 cricketers are due to make a tour of Sri Lanka after almost two decades in July-August. The tour is part of Sri Lanka’s preparations for the ICC Under-19 World Cup, which Sri Lanka are the hosts.

West Indies are due to play Sri Lanka in an Under-19 series consisting of two 4-day tests and 3 ODIs.

It will be the first time that these two countries will be involved in playing 4-day tests. Bilateral ODIs they have played before a long time back as far as 2004 when West Indies and Sri Lanka drew a four-match ODI series 2-all in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka was led by all-rounder Farveez Maharoof and West Indies by wicket-keeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin.

That series produced players in the caliber of Maharoof, Upul Tharanga, Suraj Randiv, Kosala Kulasekara and Kaushal Silva who went onto represent Sri Lanka at international level, and Ramdin, Xavier Marshall, Assad Fudadin, Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards, and Lionel Baker for West Indies.  

Between 1988 and 2022, Sri Lanka and West Indies have played 15 Under-19 ODIs of which Sri Lanka have won 8 and West Indies 7.

Sri Lanka Under-19 are also scheduled to go to Pakistan in November for a series of two 4-day tests and 3 ODIs and then participate in the Under-19 Asia Cup in Bangladesh in December before the Under19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in January 2024.   

“What we are trying to do is play against club teams regularly every month. We did a little bit of that before we left for UAE against the Under-23 team and against Jaffna NSL side. We have arranged for us to play against higher ranked teams – clubs and NSL every month,” said Sri Lanka Under-19 head coach Jehan Mubarak who is of the view that schoolboys who Captain their teams and the national Under-19 teams should be able to make decisions on the field rather than get help from coaches.

“When I was coaching at Royal College (Colombo) they liked to be given the solution,” said Mubarak who has been in the system with schoolboys to understand their way of thinking. 

“I had this problem where the solution became the coaches and not the players. We can guide them but at the end of the day they have to call their game, so that when they progress to the Under-19 program they are able to make decisions on their own.”

Apart from coaching Royal College for about three years Mubarak also had a stint as coach of Bloomfield. “I’ve been on the Royal College advisory committee for about 10-15 years. I understand their mindset a little bit, how they think. Also the parents are important. We need to have a chat about the players’ lifestyle. How to tackle social media, how to spend the money they get into their hands wisely and things like that."

In Mubarak’s book, fielding is top priority. “Cricket for me is being the best fielding side. Whatever your age Sri Lanka should always be the best fielding team whether it is U-19 or the senior national team. Fielding doesn’t need a lot of skills, it just needs hard work.”

“Being a good fielding side helps to lift the standard of the team. It puts pressure on the batsmen because the fielders are always in the game. The facet of becoming a good fielding team means that you have to be mentally strong. You do a lot of hard work, so you have pushed a lot of mental barriers. Even in match situations when things are not going your way, because you’ve done the hard work you don’t want to give up so easily. Also you play for each other if you have a good fielding team. You play better as a team. I could see that on the tour of the UAE.”