HAMBANTOTA, Feb 23: Somachandra de Silva, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief, vowed on Wednesday that international cricket in future will become a regular feature in this sleepy town of around 200,000 people.

Talking to a group of foreign journalists on the sidelines of Pakistan’s opening World Cup match against Kenya here at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, a venue named after the current President of Sri Lanka, de Silva said it was imperative that the game is spread to those areas of the country which are still inhibited by a high proportion of underprivileged class.

“Actually this strategy to take cricket [and other sports] to the rural parts of the island was initiated on the directives of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa. There are a lot of people in our country who are living below the poverty line,” the former Test leg-spinner said.

“And then it was the wishes of our president that we want to tap abundant unhidden talent in these areas because cricket has mainly been confined to Colombo, Kandy and Galle.”

De Silva, who has been heading the SLC interim committee since 2009, revealed that there are ambitious plans to have a proper infrastructure to develop the game in remote places.

“We at SLC are striving to achieve the goals as desired by our president. This is the only way to go forward. You’ll also be aware of the fact that Hambantota has also bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games here which itself is a tremendous boost for Sri Lanka in many ways.”

The 68-year-old de Silva, who played in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test against England at Colombo’s P. Sara Stadium in February 1982, appreciated the response of the locals in the opening two fixtures of the mega event.

“There were over 30,000 spectators on Sunday when Sri Lanka played Canada and even today [Wednesday] it was a respectable turnout from our point of view while considering the host nation is not playing, “ he noted.

The soft-spoken SLC chief while talking about his playing days, regretted the fact that several big names of the country missed the chance to play Test cricket.

“Personally, I don’t feel that way despite having played in just 12 Tests [37 wickets], but I feel sad when I think of a number of outstanding Sri Lankan cricketers of my time who were denied the opportunity to get a feel of real Test match atmosphere,” he expressed.

“Of course that was due to our getting Test status in July 1981. That’s why I feel very lucky to have made the grade [playing Tests] while they didn’t,” he concluded with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

AFP adds:Pakistan’s cricketing isolation could end in October if Sri Lanka, who were targeted in a deadly terror attack in Lahore two years ago, agree to tour the country. De Silva said they were in talks with the International Cricket Council’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT) to explore the possibilities. “We are still discussing the option with the ICC and with all the other board members,” he said. “There are still some security concerns in Pakistan but if things improve, and Pakistan is a brotherly nation, we can consider it — all depends on the ICC’s clearance.”

Sri Lanka are scheduled to tour Pakistan in October this year under the Future Tests Programme.

According to reports in the Pakistani media, the governments of both countries are already in talks to hold the series in Pakistan.