Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga out of Sri Lanka Test squad for tour of England

Sri Lankan pacers, Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews, are not part of the Sri Lanka Test squad announced for the tour of England.

Mathews is still recovering from a quad muscle injury due to which he was deprived of a spot in the World Cup Final and also from the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Malinga’s fitness has been doubtful for the Test match for some time now. He last played a test match in a home series against India last year. Even then he did not play all three matches and rested for the second match. He has played only 30 Tests in a period of seven years and has been scarcely used by Sri Lanka to keep him fresh for the shorter formats of the game in which he has proved himself more effective.

Sri Lanka’s 16-member squad has four pace bowlers including Dilhara Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep and Chanaka Welegedara. Nuwan Kulasekara, who played in Sri Lanka’s prior Test series against West Indies, is not part of the squad for the tour of England.

While Lakmal has intimidated opponents in his debut Test series against the West Indies, uncapped Pradeep is known to have a hurling action similar to Malinga’s. Only one bowling all-rounder is in the squad.

Fresh faces int he squad include Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal. Both are considered promising batsmen and have already played One Day matches on the international stage. Chandimal made his debut in an ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe last year as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been appointed the new Skipper of the squad for the tour of England, while vice-captain for the Sri Lankan team is yet to be decided. This will be Dilshan’s first assignment as a Captain in an overseas Test tour after the retirement of the magical right arm off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

The departure timing for the tour has been a matter of debate because eleven Sri Lankan’s, including former Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, are currently playing in the Indian Premier League. The English squad has similar scheduling conflicts, with seven of their members playing in the same league.

Earlier, Sri Lanka Cricket had asked players to report to Colombo by 5 May, 2011, five days before the team’s departure for England. The move was criticised by Muralitharan, who said that the players had earlier expected to play in the IPL until 20 May.

The finalized Sri Lankan squad is as follows:

1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Dinesh Chandimal, 8 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 9 Thisara Perera, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Ajantha Mendis, 12 Rangana Herath, 13 Dilhara Fernando, 14 Chanaka Welegedara, 15 Suranga Lakmal, 16 Nuwan Pradeep

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SRI LANKA NEEDS LONG-TERM CAPTAIN CLAIMS KUMAR SANGAKKARA

Outgoing captain of the Sri Lankan cricket team, Kumar Sangakkara, hopes that the national cricket board appoints a long term successor in his place.

The stylish left-handed batsman admired the world over for his skills and mannerisms on and off the field thinks that the Islanders need someone, who can take the team to the next World Cup, and, ideally should have the backing of the cricket administrators of the game as he learns the nuances of leadership at the international level.

Sangakkara has two candidates in mind, one is the flamboyant opening batsman, Tillakaratne Dilshan, and, the other one is all-rounder Angelo Mathews.

Dilshan has had phenomenal success at the highest level in the last three years, or, so, he was the leading run getter in the World Cup amassing a tally of more than 500 runs.

On the other hand, Mathews is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the country, he is yet to fulfill his potential as a top class all-rounder but at the age of 23 he has time on his side.

Sangakkara thinks that one of the two should be backed for the longer haul, especially in the case of Dilshan, who does not have many years of cricket left in him and would need to work hard on his fitness if he has to be in the reckoning for the next 50 overs World Cup.

"You have to look long term. Not just what is good for now. If you want to go for Dilshan, give him the confidence for a long term", Sangakkara told ESPNcricinfo. "Don't give the captaincy to Dilshan and say, 'You are just going to be captain for a year and half.' It's not going to be good for him, for he is going to think, 'My days are numbered anyway. And so it won't be good for the team”.

Sangakkara did not choose any one of the two. However, he is of the opinion that Dilshan has that Midas touch, which makes him a real asset to the team, but at the age of 34 he does not really know how long he is going to last.

"Both Dilshan and Angie [Angelo] are suitable. If they think Angie is too young then Dilshan will do a good job because he has these little touches for success. Anything he does on the field, he has this little knack. I don't know whether he will be the long-term candidate with his age, but if he keeps himself fit he can easily play the next World Cup”.

Sangakkara, who stepped down from the captaincy after the loss in the final of the World Cup to India earlier in the month, thinks that it is the national selection panel that has to make the call.

He added that whosoever gets the call needs to have pressure shared if they make a call and if things don't go well in the first or second year. He feels that the Board has to play a pivotal role in giving that cushion to the captain and selectors especially when things become a tad tough and results don’t come the way as expected in the cricket mad nation.

The announcement for the new captain is expected shortly, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board has to finalize a team for the tour of England, which includes three Tests and five ODIs.

Sri Lanka has a long way to go in the Test match format and needs to start with a winning series in England,South Africa, and, Australia, if they are to be rated as a top class Test nation.

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