19 February 2004	Thursday	27 Zilhaj 1424

DAMBULLA, Feb 18: Sri Lanka's selectors on Wednesday finalised their 15-man squad, which includes four spinners, for the first two one-dayers against Australia, making two changes to the squad picked against England last November.

Rookie leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 21, who broke into the team after the 2003 World Cup, was recalled for the first time after a four-month disciplinary ban that followed his involvement in a fatal late-night car crash.

Explosive opener Saman Jayantha, the man of the tournament in last year's Hong Kong Sixes, won a place in the national squad for the first time after an impressive domestic season and a sparkling 50 against Australia on Tuesday.

Dinusha Fernando, who took two wickets against England on his debut in Sri Lanka's last one-dayer, was left out after a dip in form. Middle order batsman Chamara Silva was dropped to make room for Jayantha.

The squad included four specialist spin bowlers with Sri Lanka set to play two pace bowlers and three spinners on a dry, spin-friendly Dambulla pitch. Lokuarachchi, Jayantha, middle order batsmen Russel Arnold and fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa are all expected to be left out of the final playing XI.

The five-match ODI series starts with a day-night match on Friday in Dambulla followed with a day game on Sunday. The teams then travel to Colombo to play two matches at Premadasa International Stadium and the final match at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Squad: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Saman Jayantha, Russel Arnold, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Nuwan Zoysa. -Reuters