• 24-member team leaves tonight

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

The 18 players who toured Bangladesh recently for the three-match ODI series, with the exception of Ashen Bandara who is injured, has been selected along with seven others in the 24-member Sri Lanka squad for the white-ball tour of England starting later this month.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to play England in a 3-match T20I series followed by a 3-match ODI series between 23 June and 4 July. The team is scheduled to leave for England tonight.

The seven new players who are joining the squad that went to Bangladesh are left-arm spin Test sensation Praveen Jayawickrama who took a record 11 wickets on his debut, uncapped players Charith Asalanka, Ishan Jayaratne and Dhananjaya Lakshan, white-ball specialists Nuwan Pradeep and Avishka Fernando, and Oshada Fernando.

Jayawickrama, along with Asalanka, Jayaratne, Lakshan, and Shiran Fernando have yet to play in any form of white-ball cricket.

One of the major problems that Sri Lanka had in Bangladesh was not taking a left-arm spinner to bowl at practices. In the absence of one, the masseur of the team who happened to bowl left-arm stepped in.

Bandara suffered a slight hamstring tear during the Bangladesh tour but recovered sufficiently to get through the fitness test although it came a tad too late as the national selectors had already picked the side for England. There is a policy that the player has to be fit at the time of selection, if not he would not be considered.

Avishka Fernando finally gets the nod after missing out on the tours to West Indies and Bangladesh on fitness issues.

The selectors have retained the captain and vice-captain roles with Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis respectively for the England tour as well, which means that Kusal Perera will lead his country in the three T20Is apart from the ODIs, replacing Lasith Malinga who led Sri Lanka in the last T20I series played at home, and Dasun Shanaka who was the captain-elect for the West Indies tour but due to a passport muddle could not make it and Angelo Mathews took over for the series.

Perera has been given the white-ball captaincy for just two series and the upcoming one against England will be crucial for him if he is to continue to lead his country.

Mathews, it is learnt, has applied for paternity leave as his wife is to give birth to their third child and he has indicated his unavailability for the England tour. He also cut short the tour of the West Indies early this year when his second child fell seriously ill.

The touring squad that went to Bangladesh and who were in a bubble at the Taj Samudra Hotel came out of their quarantine period on 6 June. They were joined by the seven players who were added to the squad to England. The squad had only physical training in the hotel gym and lawn with no skill training which they will concentrate on after they reach England as there are two weeks before the commencement of the T20I series against England, during which period they will also play in two intra-squad white-ball matches.

Sri Lanka ODI/T20I Squad to England (subject to Sports Minister’s ratification): Kusal Perera (Captain), Kusal Mendis (Vice-Captain), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Niroshan Dickwella, Dushmantha Chameera, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Praveen Jayawickrama, Ishan Jayaratne, Charith Asalanka, Oshada Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Avishka Fernando and Dhananjaya Lakshan.

SL cricketers to leave for England signing only a voluntary declaration form