Youth team set for Sri Lanka

By Stuart Teather
A GROUP of local cricketers are heading on the trip of a lifetime to take on teams from the sub-continent in a friendly tour.
A collection of players from the Dandenong District Cricket Association’s under-16 representative team, along with a number of other boys from around the state, are heading to Sri Lanka on a four-match tour against provincial teams from Kandy, Galle and Colombo.
The trip is organised team co-ordinators Vernon Tissera and Johann Jayasinha, who have contacts within the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, along with DDCA under-16 representative coach Peter Mathison as team manager, and Gordon King and Shaun Petrie as head coaches.
Tissera said the trip was about giving the boys a chance to play cricket on an international stage.
“That’s what it is, giving them good international experience,” he said.
“Who knows, one of these boys will maybe one day play for Australia.”
Tissera said he had had the idea for some time to take a team to Sri Lanka, but with the recent unrest in the country the tour was not possible.
“I had this idea and I spoke to a couple of parents … (some Sri Lankan) teams came out (last year) after what happened in Sri Lanka.
“(Now), the war situation is over, I contacted them and got information that it is more stable than before – that was the main concern.”
Chris Edwards, from Narre Warren, is one of the boys going on the tour and the young cricketer said he was excited about taking on the Sri Lankans.
“Everyone is really rapt, counting down the days,” he said.
“One game we’re playing a Twenty20 game against a school side, and their school sides are supposed to be highly renowned and hard to get into.”
Edwards said the team is ready for the different conditions they will face in Sri Lanka.
“It’s very humid and hot in their summer, their wickets are a lot different.
“They’ll be a bit slower and a lot more dry so they’ll spin more.”
The side will play a variety of Twenty20 and 50-over fixtures on the tour, with the first game in Kandy on 17 September.