Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) interim committee chairman Eran Wickramaratne has requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) for more Tests in their ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) against teams like India, England and Australia.
After not taking part in the longest format of the game for a year, Sri Lanka returned to the red-ball format in June for a two-match Test series against the West Indies. They are now taking on India in a two-match series at home.
Later, they are scheduled to play six more Tests this year, with two each against Pakistan and New Zealand away from home, followed by a two-match home series against South Africa later this year.
“I think it’s the international calendar which is causing this issue of us not playing enough Tests, and this is the format we want to do well. But the tours are determined by the FTP and we’re hoping to have more tours with India in the next (World Test Championship) cycle,” Wickramaratne told reporters.
“We’ve heard that we’ll have a few more (tours) in the next cycle so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. But obviously India, England, Australia are the teams that the entire world is looking at playing and I think we want to make sure that we get tours from those countries,” he added.
While Sri Lanka played very little red-ball cricket during the first half of the calendar year, they are set to play 10 Tests this year. Wickramaratne called for a more balanced schedule. He also hoped that his recent discussions with ICC president Jay Shah and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia can help strengthen cricketing ties between the two nations.
“Yes, we need a balance and now we are scheduled to play 10 Test matches whereas we’ve played hardly anything this year. So, I think we need to rework our FTP and see how it goes.
“I think it’s the T20 and 50-over cricket which has congested the calendar in a sense. But we want to play India because the truth is we depend on India a lot, and they are also the financial power in cricket,” he said.
“I had a conversation with Jay Shah, and recently we had a visit from BCCI’s Devajit Saikia. We want to make sure that we work together in building cricket here and across the world. We need the support of India and we really appreciate the support we get,” he stated.
“India is also stuck with a tight calendar of their own and they struggle to come here. But for us it would be great if we can have more teams coming and playing here but I guess it will depend on the international calendar. Yes, we had a very good meeting. They were very good with us,” he concluded.
