42 Year Old UNCLE Sanath to play ODI & T20 Cricket Again ! - Was he behind surfacing the alleged doping offence against Upul Tharanga to earn a place in playing 11 ?

Money Crazy Sanath Jayasuriya who had already tarnished his image to a greater extent will play the Sri Lanka T20 and One Day Internationals in England. The national selectors had picked the 42 year old uncle, former Sri Lanka captain, MP, Sanath on yesterday to join the squad for the series against England starting on June 25 with aT20 at Bristol. The series also features five ODIs against England and one ODI each against Ireland and Scotland.

“I am doing my training as seriously as I’ve ever done in my career and my fitness levels are as good as I’ve been at 18. I am prepared always and am confident of what I can do” Jayasuriya boasted to the media.

National selectors have picked 16 players for the tour squad including all rounder Angelo Mathews (Photo on right - 2) subject to fitness. Interestingly the selectors have opted to include another left handed opener in the squad Dimuth Karunaratne. The 23 year old SSC opener has come through the ranks of Sri Lanka Under 19 team and is incidentally the third player in the squad to come from St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. The promising youngster has been in terrific form right through the recent domestic competitions.

Selectors have also made a sensational decision to appoint left hander Thilina Kandamby as the Vice Captain (Photo on right - 3) of the team while all rounder although Kumar Sangakkara acts as deputy to Dilshan in the test series. Jeewan Mendis has also been selected while dropping Tilan Samaraweera in a move which is likely to give a new look to the Sri Lankan middle order. Mendis, who represents Tamil Union was adjudged the player of the tournament in the recent domestic tournament and has been a proven talent in the local scene.

Pace ace Lasith Malinga who retired from test cricket last month has retained his place in the ODI squad while seamer Nuwan Kulasekara has also retained his place.

Apart from Samaraweera, Farveez Maharoof, Suranga Lakmal, Ajantha Mendis, Chanaka Welagedara and Tharanga Paranavithana who are currently in England for the Test series will return home.

Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan sustaining a hairline fracture in his thumb during the second Test that finished at Lord’s on Tuesday will likely to miss the next test match as well as few ODI matches.

The Sports analysts believe that the decesion to include Uncle Sanaath was the most foolish decesion taken by any sports body. They say, SLC should have given that opportunity to a young talented player.

Sri Lanka Squad Named for England Test Tour - Malinga & Mathews Excluded Due to Injuries !

Sri Lanka squad: 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.

Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews are not part of the Sri Lanka Test squad announced on Wednesday for the tour of England. Mathews is still recovering from a quad muscle injury that kept him out of the World Cup final and also the ongoing IPL. Malinga, meanwhile, has made himself unavailable for the Test matches, stating he is suffering from a knee injury.

Malinga last played a Test against India in the three-match home series last year, and even then he was rested for the second match. He has played only 30 Tests in a seven-year span, and has been sparingly used by Sri Lanka to keep him fresh for the shorter formats where he has proved far more effective.

The 16-member squad has four fast bowlers in Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep (Photo on Left). Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara, who played in Sri Lanka's previous Test series, against West Indies, is not part of the squad. While Lakmal impressed in his debut Test series against West Indies, uncapped Pradeep is known to have a slinging action resembling Malinga's. Thisara Perera is the bowling allrounder in the squad.





Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal (Photo on Left) have also received call-ups. Both are considered to be among the most promising Sri Lankan batsmen, and have already played ODIs. Chandimal debuted in the ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe last year as a wicketkeeper-batsman.


A vice-captain to Tillakaratne Dilshan, the newly-appointed captain, is yet to be announced. This will be Dilshan's first assignment as captain and will also be Sri Lanka's first overseas Test tour since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. Their is a possibility that Thilana Samaraweera or Prasanna Jayawardena might be named as Vice Captain for the moment as they are the only other seniorr players other than Sanga and Mahela in the Sqaud.

The timing of the team's departure for the tour has been a subject of controversy as eleven Sri Lankan players, including former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, are currently playing in the IPL and seven of them are in the squad for England. They were earlier asked by Sri Lanka Cricket to report to Colombo by May 5 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 till May 20.