Kusal Perera’s young brigade takes flight to England

From left: Praveen Jayawickrama, Ishan Jayaratne, Dhananjaya Lakshan and Charith Asalanka

Sri Lanka’s squad of 24 cricketers left for England in the early hours of yesterday to play a three-match T20I and three-match ODI series with the hope of improving their rankings mainly in the ICC Men’s World Cup Super League where they are languishing at the bottom of the table.

“We’ve had a good preparation after the Bangladesh series where there were a lot of positives. We got a training break here where we concentrated mainly on our physical fitness,” said Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20I Captain Kusal Perera on the eve of the team’s departure. 

“In England also we will get a break before the start of the series. We have an exciting young group of players who are good enough to put up a good performance. England are ranked very high and they have a lot of experienced players in their side. We are hoping to offer them a strong challenge and win,” said Perera.

Three of the newcomers in the team Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya Lakshan and Ishan Jayaratne also expressed their personal views on the tour and said that they were selected because of good performances in the domestic tournaments.

“I am happy to be selected to represent my country. A cricketer’s ambition is to play for his country and this is the first time I have got that opportunity. I think I have got this chance because I performed well in the domestic season. I am trying to make the maximum use of it,” said Charith Asalanka, the 23-year-old batting all-rounder and Captain of SSC.

Lakshan, the 22-year-old all-rounder from Colts who won the Emerging Player of the Tournament award in the inaugural LPL said: “Only a few players get the opportunity to play for their country so I am trying to make the most of it. I got a lot of experience playing in the LPL. With that experience I was able to perform well in the club tournaments, that’s how I have got this break. Playing T10 cricket was also a huge experience because it is very competitive. I am very happy to be selected for the England tour. I will try my best to perform to the best of my capabilities.”    

Fast-bowling all-rounder Ishan Jayaratne (31), who captained Ragama CC to the finals of the Major Clubs Limited-Over Tournament said: “Any player’s ambition from their childhood is to get selected to play for Sri Lanka. I think the amount of work I’ve put in the past three years and my good performances has brought me to the position where I am today. In the recent T20 tournament I was the best bowler and in the one-day tournament I was the third-highest wicket-taker. Those performances have helped me gain selection.”

The team had to undergo some anxious moments a day before their departure when the players, who were offered the newly drawn up performance-based annual contracts, took a strong stand and refused to sign it on the grounds that it was “unfair and non-transparent”. The team left for England signing only a Voluntary Declaration form and has been promised by Sri Lanka Cricket that their evaluations, which was the bone of contention, will be submitted to them individually on their return from England. – (ST)