Mathews axe down to poor “cricket fitness”: SLC Chief Selector

SLC Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha (left), Captain Dinesh Cbhandimal and Chief selector Graeme Labroy yesterday during the media briefing - Pic by Nimal Siri Edirisinghe

By Madushka Balasuriya 

Fitness concerns were behind Angelo Mathews’ omission from Sri Lanka’s limited overs setup for the upcoming home series against England, Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Selector Graeme Labrooy has confirmed.

“I think we saw that he had slowed down in his game, and his cricket fitness was not up to mark in terms of taking quick singles and running between the wickets,” explained Labrooy at a media briefing in Colombo yesterday.

SLC Head Coach Chandika Hathurusingha echoed Labrooy’s concerns, drawing attention to Mathews’ poor career record of running between the wickets. Hathurusingha noted that while Mathews’ recent record with the bat was impressive - he boasts Sri Lanka’s best ODI average over the past two years (out of batsmen who have scored more than 500 runs in that period) - his lack of overall fitness was placing undue pressure on his teammates.

“It’s affecting the team dynamic at the moment. If you go and look at his performances, running between the wickets is a very big concern for us. We want him to get fitter, we want him to contribute - I know he scored 99 runs against South Africa three matches ago - but there are certain concerns,” said Hathurusingha. “I think he’s been involved in 60-odd run outs, and 49 of those times the other guy got run out - that’s a world record - so those are the things that we have been discussing. But I don’t want to go into detail and put him under pressure, because I want him fresh and clear as possible to help serve the Sri Lanka team in the future.” Mathews’ fitness issues are well-known, however, with the player’s recent game time being carefully managed following a host of hamstring and calf injuries. Earlier this year, SLC took the decision to play Mathews purely in his capacity as a batsman, acknowledging that his body would not be able to handle the toll of bowling consistently.

Despite these concerns though, Mathews was handed the captaincy once more upon Hathurusingha’s request earlier this year. But after being stripped of the captaincy following the Asia Cup, Mathews made note of this in a letter to SLC CEO Ashley De Silva, where he voiced his dismay at being scapegoated for Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the tournament. Mathews questioned as to why he had been brought back into the captaincy fold, only to be shafted a few months later.

“At that time I felt that his experience would have been valuable,” explained Hathurusingha. 

“But now we understand that he needs to improve his fitness, especially when he bats after having fielded, I’ve noticed that his fitness - his running between the wickets - is affected. As per the dynamics of our team we have spoken to him, and given him this opportunity to improve his fitness.”

In light of these concerns, it was revealed that Mathews had been given special dispensation prior to the Asia Cup, with the 31 year-old said to have foregone the mandatory yo-yo test prior to selection, so as not to aggravate any latent injuries. 

Alongside Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera, and Suranga Lakmal were also exempted. When questioned as to why there was no blanket requirement for all players in terms of fitness, Hathurusingha cited a somewhat shallow talent pool, which he said necessitated the inclusion of players based on their strengths - overlooking “certain limitations”.

“We can’t have a blanket system; the fitness test is done periodically but that doesn’t mean that it rules out certain players with certain limitations and injuries. You may have noticed that depending on the players drafted into the side, the standard of fielding rises and falls. Sometimes we bring in players based on other skillsets, but they have shortcomings elsewhere.”