'A team tours are no longer joy rides' - Tissera

Going on tour with an A team is a serious opportunity to push for a place in the national team. Michael Tissera, former Sri Lankan captain and current manager of the Sri Lanka A team that will tour England has made it clear that he means business. The 16-member squad that forms the second string of cricketers in Sri Lanka have their work cut out. "We are going to make it quite clear to everyone that the joyrides are over," said Tissera. "The players must be made to realize that this tour is no joke, not a holiday. That it is serious work and if they want to get into the first team they will have to work very hard."

The Sri Lanka A team will leave on a one-month 10-match tour to England on June 28 and Tissera promises it won't be a honeymoon. "It doesn't mean that you go to England, see all your friends, have a ball, play the odd match and come back," he said. "Those days are gone. Sri Lanka Cricket is spending a lot of money on these A team tours. You have to work on the basis that you are the feeder for the first team and your performances are not only going to help Sri Lanka but individually also."

Tissera, 65 now, has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian, and is by no means new to this job. "They have to realize that they are the next lot on the line and that if do well, they have a fine opportunity to play Test cricket. Some of them have already played the odd Test match. But they must now start pushing the others and they've still got a good chance. The World Cup is three years away and there's a good chance for some of these fellows to push for places in the first team. There's no question about it that there is talent in the team. It is just that it's got to be harnessed properly."

Tissera also added that the Sri Lankan board would do well to form a core squad that would train together through the year to ensure some sort of continuity in the A team. "A squad of around 18 players or so must be kept together for a couple of years. Otherwise what happens is you go on a tour and come back and you disperse. Very few of these fellows will do work on their own. You have to be organized. When they are organized they do well. Then you can instill team work."

Tissera believed there was no shortage of talent pushing members of the national team for places. "There should be an organized squad for those who are on the fringe of getting into the A team as well, just like they are trying to do now with some of the chaps like Jeevan Mendis, Umesh Wijesiriwardene, Michael Vandort, Tharanga Lakshitha. They are hoping to put them in the academy to work on their technique so that they can come in at any time."