Inter-provincial tournament to be launched in January

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will launch the new Ten Sports inter-provincial cricket tournament on Jan 3, a tournament that has been designed to raise the standard of domestic cricket and prepare players better for international competetion. Aravinda de Silva, vice president of SLC and a national selector, believes that the tournament is essential if Sri Lanka aspire to become the best cricketing nation in the world.

At a press conference held at the SLC headquarters De Silva said, "As a member of the team that reached Himalayan heights of international cricket in 1996, I have no doubt in mind that Sri Lanka has what it takes to make it to the of the mountain again. In order to make that dream become a reality we must create an environment where the most skilled players are given the opportunity, the facilities, the encouragement and the necessary material support to do the best for their country."

He added that it will bridge the gap between the level of domestic and international cricket. "In that sense the inter-provincial tournament 2004 should be looked as a step in the right direction. We want to create an atmosphere for the players so that they will be ready to play international cricket whenever they are called upon to do so. During my playing days I have seen many players who have come into the national team not knowing even how to bowl an inswinger."

The tournament has a touch of international flavour with each of the provinces being given a coach and the matches supervised by a panel of eight match referees and 12 umpires. De Silva said holding this provincial tournament was the only way of bridging the gap between domestic and international cricket without destablising the club tournaments. He said the original plan was to run the tournament with all seven provinces participating, but two are currently inactive. Thus the provinces that will compete are: Central (captained by Muttiah Muralitharan), North Central (captained by Mahela Jayawardene), Southern (captained by Marvan Atapattu), Uva (captained by Chaminda Vaas) and Western (captained by Hashan Tillakaratne).

The 12 contracted national players are equally spread amongst the five provinces as 'overseas players'. He said the players picked for each team will represent the respective provinces for a period of three years. De Silva said players who perform well and are identified as future prospects will be first given the chance to represent Sri Lanka A teams before being called upon to play for the national team. "There should be a process in place for players to come through."

The winning team will take the Ten Sports trophy and Rs.1 million and. The runner-up will be awarded Rs, 500,000. Individual awards include Rs. 100,000 for the Man of the Tournament and Rs. 75,000 each for best batsman and best bowler.