Cricket-playing schools in the country are jubilant after the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) finally confirmed the holding of the Inter-Schools Under-19 Cricket Tournament from November 16 onward.
After a proposal made with a new format of playing conditions-m, a one-day (50 over) tournament instead of the regular two-day format, the SLSCA tournament committee obtained the necessary approval from the Ministry of Education(MOE) to hold the tournament as scheduled.
The tournament will commence from November 16, soon after the completion of the GCE Advanced Level Examination, and will be continued until December 31.
All schools playing in the tournament will be compelled to play four of their tournament matches within this period. With the GCE Ordinary Level Examination likely to be rescheduled for the end of January, the SLSCA has opted to resume the tournament from January 28 for a further one month, which will be February 28, where the remaining four matches of the group stage has to be completed (total of 8 matches). The knockout stage is scheduled to be finalized in the month of March, including the semi-finals and the finals.
More importantly, all matches will be played on Saturdays, Sundays and Public holidays, excluding special religious holidays.
The governing body has also opted to grant permission for the schools which play their annual traditional fixtures, which will be limited unlike the past years. They have also decided to introduce a ‘Demotion-Promotion’ system which will be implemented only for this season.
Meanwhile, the girl’s limited-over tournament will be played concurrently to the above tournament, which will follow the same schedule.
The SLSCA has not forgotten the junior cricketers as they are to play an under-14 tournament, where kids born after January 1, 2007, will be eligible to play in this category.
The introduction of the new format will involve three divisions 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
Division 1 and 2 will consist of 36 schools in fray where each group will be divided into two tiers 1 and 2. The tier 1 and 2 will be further divided into two groups as 1-A, 1-B and 2-A, 2-B, respectively, consisting of 16 teams in a group.
Each team in this group will play eight matches during the group stage before the top two teams in these groups will play in the semi-finals followed by the final as the respective winners will be adjudged champions.
Meanwhile, division 3 will consist of two levels one and two. The Level 1 will accommodate 64 teams slated in eight groups. The top two teams end of the league stage, depending on the outcome of the points table will qualify for the quarter-final stage, which will be followed by the semi-finals and the finals. The winner will be named Champions.
All matches will be staged under strict health regulations which have to be adhered and implemented by schools and stakeholders.
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