Sri Lanka to host Bangladesh U19 in October

By Amindha de Alwis

Sri Lanka’s Under-19 cricket team will return to action next month in a five-match limited-overs series versus their Bangladeshi counterparts as part of their preparation for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in the West Indies early next year. 

The Bangladesh Under-19s will arrive in the island on October 7 and remain in a bio-secure bubble for the entirety of the tour. 

Bangladesh has been a growing force at youth level in recent times with their Under-19 side storming to the World Cup title in South Africa last year. 

The Sri Lanka Under-19 squad is currently undergoing a residential training programme at the SSC grounds in Colombo. 

Head Coach of the Under-19 team Avishka Gunawardene told the Daily Mirror that the players have been training for close to a month and will receive a short break before regrouping for the Youth ODI series. 

“We started the camp at the beginning of the month. We are at the last week. Then we will release the players to go have a break and we will regroup after a week,” Gunawardene said. 

A 26-member pool is currently taking part in the training programme and Gunawardene said that discussions were yet to be had with selectors on whether the squad would be pruned down for the inbound tour commencing on 
October 15. 

“There are 26 in the squad at the moment.  We have not communicated with the selectors yet on if 
the same number would remain for the tour or not,” 
he said. 

Alongside Gunawardene, the Under-19 coaching staff comprises of Upul Chandana (Fielding Coach), Sachith Pathirana (Spin-bowing Coach), Chamila Gamage (Fast-bowling coach) and Dhammika Sudarshana 
(Batting Coach).