Aravinda de Silva

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is negotiating with former batting great Aravinda de Silva to join the board as a full time batting consultant for country’s under-19 team.

De Silva, who retired in 2003 as country’s highest run getter in both forms of the game, has worked with the under-19 team on previous occasions, but SLC now wants him to work on a full time basis leading up to the under-19 Cricket World Cup in Kenya in February next year.

"We are negotiating with Aravinda and are keen on acquiring his services on a full time basis. There can’t be a better person than him to spot and train talent," a senior cricket administrator told ‘The Island’.

Sri Lanka’s youth teams have struggled in recent times even against lowly teams and since reaching the finals of the Youth World Cup in 2000 in Colombo, they have failed to reach at least the semi-final stage in successive Under-19 World Cup tournaments.

Currently the Sri Lanka under-19 team is in Bangladesh and have already conceded a 3-1 defeat to the hosts with one match to go in the five match series.