da pinup bet： The Sri Lankan selectors have made four changes to the one-day squad thatwon the ARY Gold trophy in Sharjah last April and have revealed a change ofstrategy for the forthcoming triangular series against India and NewZealand
Charlie Austin08-Jul-2001The Sri Lankan selectors have made four changes to the one-day squad thatwon the ARY Gold trophy in Sharjah last April and have revealed a change ofstrategy for the forthcoming triangular series against India and NewZealand.Five fast bowlers and only two specialist spinners have been picked in the15-man squad, an unusual combination on Sri Lanka pitches. The final team isexpected to include three fast bowlers.The new look squad, the first selected by the new five-man panel ofselectors, confirms that the team management and selectors are now focusingtheir attention on the 2003 World Cup, where it is felt that Sri Lanka willneed the services of fast bowling all rounders.Suresh Perera and Dulip Liyanage have been marked out as fast bowlerscapable of scoring valuable runs in the lower middle order and they havebeen included in the squad in place of Akalanka Ganegama and ThilanSamaraweera.Suresh PereraThe recall of 23-year-old Suresh Perera is based upon potential, rather thanhard statistics. In his last 11 ODI’s he averages just 10.6 and has onlyscored two half centuries in his 36 match first class career. Nevertheless,he is clearly an exciting prospect, possessing the priceless potential tochange the course of a match with both bat or ball.Dulip Liyanage, no sibling at 29 years of age, is recalled after animpressive first class season for Colts CC, in which he averaged 22.7 withthe bat and claimed 38 wickets. He made his ODI and Test debut way back in1992/3 before suffering from a debilitating ankle injury.Dilhara Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, and Nuwan Zoysa, subject to his expectedrecovery from an ankle injury, all retain their places in the squad.All the fast bowlers can look forward to helpful fast bowling conditions inthe forthcoming tournament, especially when they play India, as the curatorshave been asked to leave more grass on the pitches. Slower pitches are,however, expected in the New Zealand games.Avishka GunawardeneAvishka Gunawardene and Chamara Silva are recalled after impressiveperformances against Pakistan A, in place of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Indikade Saram, both of whom have failed to grasp the opportunities given to themby previous selection committees.Tillakaratne Dilshan stormed onto the international scene 18 months ago withan unbeaten Test century in his second game, but has disappointedthereafter, especially in the Test arena. In one-day cricket he has played14 games, but has not batted in the top six on six occasions and has neverbeen given an opportunity to bat higher up the order than number six.Indika de Saram, nearly 28, has now played in 15 One-Day Internationals, buthas failed to pass fifty once and boasts a highest score of just 38 and anaverage of 16.63. He too, however, has often suffered from a lowly positionin the batting order.Kumar Sangakkara retains his place in the squad though he has been in poorform recently. With Romesh Kaluwitharan likely to take the gloves,Sangakkara will be forced to compete with Gunawardene and Silva for thefinal batting places.Should Sri Lanka opt to play seven batsmen and four bowlers then bothGunawardene and Sangakkara will probably play ahead of Silva. However, theymay well play six batsmen and ask Kumar Dharmasena, retaining his placedespite a stiff challenge from Thilan Samaraweera, to bat at number seven.This would leave room for just one of the three.Full Squad:Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt), Marvan Atapattu (Vice Capt), Romesh Kaluwitharana,Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sanagakkara, Avishka Gunawardene,Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage, Suresh Perera, Nuwan Zoysa,Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando