COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will build a new international cricket stadium in the Tamil-dominated north and scout for talent from the former war zone.
Answering a question in the Parliament, Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said that district coaches have already been placed in three northern districts with action also taken to build indoor cricket training facilities and concrete pitches.
“We will be building a new international cricket stadium at Elephant Pass,” Jayasekera said.
Elephant Pass, located in the gateway of Jaffna Peninsula, has regularly been the site of battles during the civil war.
He said Sri Lanka Cricket will scout talent from the former conflict region.
Jayasekera said this year’s national sports festival will be held at Kilinochchi, the former administrative capital of the LTTE from where they ran a parallel administration for decades.
Sri Lanka’s national team consists mainly of players from the Sinhalese majority.
Star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and former international batsman Russel Arnold are exceptions.
Both of them are Tamils who came from outside the Tamil- dominated northern province.–PTI
