New look Under 23 tournament gets underway

The Under 23 Youth Cricket Tournament conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) gets underway this weekend with 20 teams competing for honours in the Premier Division.

This time the twenty clubs will be spilt into four groups of five in the preliminary round. Two teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

The matches leading up to the quarterfinals will be two days affairs and from then on it will change into a three-day contest. A total number of 47 matches will be played in the tournament altogether, with the final scheduled on 26th, 27th and 28th of October at the Sinhalese Sports Club Grounds.

This year, two key players have shifted clubs. Promising batsman Ian Daniel has moved from Sinhalese Sports Club to Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club while fast bowler Prabath Nissanka has left Matara and joined Bloomfield.

The tournament features quite a few youngsters, who are pushing for places in the national squad, including, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Michael Vandort and Jehan Mubarak.

Bloomfield look to be one of the strongest sides with Ian Daniel, Rashan Pieris Prabath Nissanka and Kaushalya Lokuarachi teaming up for them.

Last year Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club won the tournament.