Bandulla Warnapura speaks to CricInfo as the Under 15 side departs for the Asian Cricket Council Trophy

A few years ago the concept of international tours at the U15 level would attract much ridicule and little serious consideration. Today it is widely accepted that the Under 15, 17 and 19 tournaments and tours provide an invaluable opportunity to ensure sound techniques for the future and form an important part of the larger picture: the quest to become the best in the world.

Last night the Under 15 squad for the Inaugural Asian Cricket Council Trophy gathered at the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) headquarters. They had come for the traditional "Pirith' ceremony in which they receive their Pirith threads. In addition, their adoring parents were given an opportunity to bid farewell to their young ones, many of whom have never left the country and the majority of whom are from outstation areas.

The team fly to Malaysia this morning for two weeks and will then return briefly to Sri Lanka before departing for the Under 15 World Cup in the England. Whilst this tour is seen as important in its own right The Management is looking upon it as a stepping stone for the World Cup. Changes may be made to the squad for the World Cup to take account of the seamer friendly conditions in England.

Bandula Warnapura, the manager of the team and Sri Lanka's first test captain, was clearly looking forward to the challenges ahead and believed that Sri Lanka had a good chance of success: "When you consider the team that we have selected, with the requirements in one-day cricket nowadays for allrounders, we are confident of doing very well in Malaysia. The first match is against Pakistan and will probably be the toughest match of the tournament. We are looking forward to that to see how strong they are. The other strong side will be India."

When asked to compare the young Sri Lankan talent today with the strength of youth cricket when he was playing, he replied: "During our time we were playing more friendly matches. Today we are playing mostly limited overs matches and I think that this has hampered some of the natural talent that has come up. In this tour though the players experience of limited overs cricket should help."

The selection of an Under 15 side is an enormous task, Bandulla explained how the selection process was conducted: "We went to all the schools that were participating in the inter schools competition and asked them to put forward 5 players. In all we went to 250 schools and ultimately looked at about 1500 kids. Once that was done we played an inter-district tournament and then an inter-regional tournament, which was played on turf. After that point we had trial matches from which we selected a pool and trained for three weeks to prepare."

Questioned as to the value of Under 15 international competitions, Bandulla responded: " From what we know in Sri Lanka the best age to learn the basics is at 15. If you start with the basics at the U15 level and then introduce the psychological aspects at the Under 17 level the players should be ready to play for Sri Lanka when they are 19."