Kent Under-17 team learned so much from trip to Sri Lanka (2 June 1999)

2 June 1999

Kent Under-17 team learned so much from trip to Sri Lanka

The Daily News

Errol Seneviratne, a former umpire who stood in the English circuit was instrumental in organising this tour. He has been doing so from 1982.

Seneviratne is also working on the possibility of getting down Glamorgan and Gloucestershire under-19 teams later in the year.

The following is a report by Team Manager Maurice Thinder in the Kent Newsletter:

After two years of planning and fund-raising, we finally set off from Heathrow by AirLanka Airbus on December 12. Nearly 300 corporate and individual sponsors and a generous grant from Swifts Sports Trust made this possible.

Sri Lanka is a cricket mad country; boys could be seen playing on every piece of derelict land, as well as in the street. Our matches were regularly reported in the national press, and Test matches from Australia and South Africa could be watched almost continuously on television. The standard of cricket is very high; as well as the fanaticism for the sport, the climate allows local players to play all year round.

At first we struggled to play to our potential; the boys took some time to adjust to the changes of climate, time zones and diet. Also, despite prior agreements that we would play under-17 teams, players from the national under-19 team played against us in the first two matches.

In the second week, we began to get it together, play much better cricket, and compete. By Boxing Day, despite a temperature of 37 degrees C and high humidity, our fast bowlers were steaming into reduce Matara to 15 for 3. The tour ended in anti-climax, as our two final matches in Kandy were rained off.

Some individual batting performances are worth recording. James Lincoln scored most runs on the tour, including a superb 103 not out in four hours against a very strong bowling attack at Moratuwa. James Tredwell scored a battling 85 trying to save a draw against Gampaha, while Mark Calnan and Lewis Jenkins also recorded half-centuries. Despite these excellent individual efforts, too often our batsmen sold their wickets too cheaply.

Our bowlers were more successful. All the bowlers managed some good spells and adapted well to the conditions. Tredwell's off-spin proved very effective, including 5 for 72 against Matara, while Nick Bluett took six wickets on the first day against Colombo North. Once he's acclimatised Martin Purdy bowled consistently well showing more accuracy and control than previously.

The ground fielding was generally satisfactory, but our catching rather let us down, despite fine individual efforts by Gareth Honor and Lewis Jenkins.

The standard of the local umpiring was very high, much better than we generally experience at home.

The principal aim of the tour was to improve each of the boys as cricketers. Despite the rather disappointing results overall (won one, drew two, lost three). I believe our aim was achieved. The boys learned quickly, adapted to very different conditions from those in England, and should be able to put this experience in good use in their play in the future.

All in all, this was the experience of a lifetime, both in cricketing terms and in learning about life and about ourselves. In particular, I'll never forget the friendliness of all the Sri Lankans we met, and the fireworks celebrating Christmas and the New Year."

Source :: The Daily News