East West Marketing to Schools’ rescue

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
East West Marketing came to the rescue of the Schools Invitation XI by undertaking to sponsor them for the inaugural Sri Lanka Telecom inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament which will take place in Colombo and Kurunegala from April 17-May 1.

Sri Lanka Cricket sources said if no sponsor had come forward they wouldn’t have been in a position to put out a Schools side for this tournament. East West Marketing is headed by K Mathivanan, secretary of Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee.

The Schools Invitation XI which will be captained by Dinesh Chandimal comprises eight cricketers who represented the country at the 2008 ICC World Cup in Malaysia – Chandimal, Janith Perera (vice-captain), Chathuranga de Silva, Udara Jayasundara, Angelo Perera, Imesh Udayanga, Chathura Pieris and Naveen Kavikara. MTT Fernando, Nipun Karunanayaka, Nadun Pathirana, Jayampathi Perera, Vindo Perera, Danushka Gunatilake, and Lahiru Jayaratne make up the 15-member squad.

Three other schoolboy cricketers who were also members of the Under 19 World Cup team are also included to represent the other provinces. World Cup captain Ashan Priyanjana will play for Ruhuna, Thisara Perera for Wayamba and Sachith Pathirana for Kadurata.

When questioned whether it was the right idea to invite a schools eleven to play in a Twenty20 tournament, Sidath Wettimuny, who is the provincial committee chairman and member of the interim committee said: “We decided to invite a schools eleven to give the boys the opportunity to compete with the best players in the country. How best they will benefit from it only time will tell.”

“We take pride in saying that five cricketers who played in the inter-provincial limited-overs tournament have made it to the national team. We have moved ahead by appointing provincial coaches and managers and we are in the process of developing the infrastructure at the five provinces so that there is less migration of cricketers to Colombo.”

Wettimuny further stated some of the sponsors have come forward affording employment to the cricketers to ensure they remain in their provinces and not come to Colombo as it has been the practice for so many years. “These are good signs that the inter-provincial tournament is gaining momentum,” he told journalists at a press conference held at the SLC headquarters yesterday.

Representatives of the sponsors were also present at the conference namely, E-wis who sponsors Basnahira North, Lexmark – Basnahira South, MasHoldings – Kandurata, Hirdaramani Group – Ruhunu, Lanka Bell – Wayamba and EastWest Marketing – Schools Invitation XI.

The tournament will lose some of its gloss with the absence of the Sri Lanka team players who are in the Caribbean playing the West Indies in a one-day series. But Wettimuny pointed out that their absence gave an opportunity for others to display their potential and come into the limelight.

He said the inter-provincial league which would comprise 4-day matches is slotted for January 2009.