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| June 2, 2006 | Friday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1427 |
Jayasuriya set for Test comeback against England
NOTTINGHAM (England), June 1: Sanath Jayasuriya was poised to make a return to Test cricket after being included in Sri Lanka's squad for the third and final match of their series with England starting at Trent Bridge on Friday.
The 36-year-old former captain joined the tour during the drawn series opener at Lord's, having previously announced his Test retirement so he could concentrate on One-day Internationals in the run-up to next year's World Cup in the Caribbean.
But after being omitted from the second Test at Edgbaston, where England won by six wickets to go 1-0 up in the series, the experienced left-handed batsman is now set to replace the out-of-form Thilan Samaraweera in the middle order even though he is best-known as an opener.
And with Sri Lanka struggling to back-up off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 10 for 115 at Edgbaston, skipper Mahela Jayawardene also announced on Thursday that left-arm quick Nuwan Zoysa had been included in the squad instead of the lacklustre Nuwan Kulasekera.
“We've taken Thilan out of the 12, because he lacks a bit of confidence in himself right now (Samaraweera has made just 17 runs in four innings this series).
“There’s a very good chance of him (Jayasuriya) playing,” Jayawardene also told reporters, adding the former skipper's left-arm spin could also be a useful asset.
“We had a look at the wicket. It looks a bit dry as well so it might spin in the latter part of the Test match so he gives us a different option.”
Jayasuriya, who has scored 6,613 runs at an average of 41.59 in 102 Tests with 14 hundreds, has not played Test cricket since sustaining a thumb injury in the second Test against Pakistan at Kandy in April.
In his absence and that of injured fellow opener Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka have given chances to Jehan Mubarak, Upul Tharanga and Michael Vandort at the top of their order.
It now appears that Vandort, who made a battling hundred at Edgbaston, and Tharanga will be retained as openers with Jayauriya batting down the order.
“If we have Sanath, it gives us a little bit more depth in our batting, a bit more experience and a different variation to our attack. If he plays, he'll definitely bat in the middle.
“What we wanted at the start of the tour was to give opportunities to the three young openers. It would have been very unfair if we'd told them after just one game 'we don't need you anymore and probably taken them back in their careers.
“The guys have shown they have the character to be good openers. I think what Michael did in the second innings (at Edgbaston) proved that.”
Sri Lanka's seamers have taken just six wickets between them this series, with strike bowler Chaminda Vaas only grabbing three so far, and Jayawardene admitted: “That is a concern, obviously. Vaas has been consistent with his efforts but the inexperienced guys have haven't been that consistent.
“The way Murali's handled himself, the other guys could have had much more success if they'd been a bit more disciplined.
“If we can have a bit more pressure from the other side it will be easier for Vaas to penetrate. Right now he's trying to keep things quiet at the start.
Zoysa gives us more height and variation.”
Meanwhile England captain Andrew Flintoff admitted he remained wary of the threat posed by Muralitharan, as his side looked for the first series win since the Ashes.“A side with Murali in it, anything can happen. We can't be complacent.”
Teams (from):
ENGLAND: Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff (captain), Geraint Jones, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood, Matthew Hoggard, Monty Panesar, Jon Lewis
SRI LANKA: Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Sanath Jayasuriya.
Umpires: Darrell Hair (Australia) and Rudi Koertzen (South Africa).
TV umpire: Peter Hartley (England).
Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).—AFP
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