Former Sri Lanka cricketers Sidath Wettimuny, Mahela Jayawardene and Roger Wijesuriya, along with Jayantha Seneviratne and Carlton Bernadus have been included into a committee set up by Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam to foster and develop junior school cricket.
The Minister made this disclosure at a Cricket Skills Development Programme organized by the Ministry of Sports on Friday.
Jayawardene conducted the topic Graduation of a Youngster of School Cricket and further said that he discovered junior players were using the regular cricket ball for matches which he got changed to suit the junior age group like it was during his junior days.
“It’s not good to use regular balls in these age groups because they can’t learn anything technically,” said Jayawardene.
“We need to uplift the technical standard from the early stages. I played nearly 20 years of international cricket and during these years international cricket has changed a lot. Our school cricket system is far better compared to other countries but we have failed to win the junior World Cup,” he said.
“I believe we are facing a lack of technical knowledge and team plans in school level cricket we should no more concerned on these aspects and develop school cricket. We need to focus more on the technical aspects in the future.”
