At a time when the general cricket machine is in a slow sinking quagmire, the struggle faced by junior cricket in Sri Lanka keeps getting worse. Former national coach Jayantha Seneviratne tells SR Pathiravithana in the Sunday Times, that the commercial exploitation of cricket at the junior level as the biggest bane that has hit the sport in this island.

There are many uncertain avenues that a young cricketer has to travel in this present trend. In this present system, from their younger days, they are trained to play limited overs cricket and the focus is win at any cost. As a result negative trends begin to creep in, he believes.

'For instance a lot of young players now try to play the slash instead of the drive. When they play the slash they are not in complete control over their shot. They play it because they have seen Sanath Jayasuriya playing that stroke and scoring runs. But, the irony is that Sanath Jayasuriya is a rare gifted player and every young cricketer cannot become another Jayasuriya.'

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