Sachith Pathirana to lead Sri Lanka Under-19

Left-handed allrounder Sachith Pathirana will lead Sri Lanka Under-19 in the one-day tri-nation series against England and host Malaysia from January 26.

Pathirana, from Trinity College in Kandy who bats left-hand and bowls left-arm spin, was a clear favourite to captain the side having toured with the national Under-17 and Under-19 teams previously. He is also a prolific wicket-taker in schools cricket and a quick scoring middle order batsman.

Ashan Priyangana from Nalanda College, another experienced Under-19 player and batsman, is Pathirana's deputy in a squad of 14. National selection committee sources said that the team was picked after holding four trial matches. Sources also indicated that the performance of the players last season and in the current season was also taken into consideration before making the final decision.

"It was tough, really tough to select this side. There were players equally good in all positions," said a selection committee source. Sri Lanka will play Malaysia in their opening match on January 26 and England on January 29. The teams will play each other three times and the top two sides will qualify for the final on February 10.

Sri Lanka will then stay back to play a three-day Under-19 'Test' against India from February 12 before returning home. India Under-19 side is due to arrive for a tour of Malaysia at the conclusion of the tri-nation one-day series.

Sri Lanka Under-19 squad to Malaysia: Sachith Pathirana (capt, Trinity College), Ashan Priyangana (vice-capt, Nalanda College), Thisara Perera (St. Joseph's College, Colombo), Roshane Silva (St. Joseph's College, Colombo), Dimuth Karunaratne (St. Joseph's College, Colombo), Lahiru Theerimanne (Prince of Wales College), Janitha Perera (Royal College, Colombo), Nisham Mazhahir (S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia), Mohamed Feishal (St. Sylvester's College, Kandy), Vimanga Perera (Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala), Ushan Manohar (Sri Devananda College, Ambalangoda), Isuru Udana (D.S. Senanayake College), Sanjaya Fernando (St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa), Amal Atapattu (Nalanda College).