No respite for Sri Lanka as Eranga injured

Thursday, 3 January 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

AAP: Just when Sri Lanka thought their miserable Australian tour couldn’t get any worse, it reached an incredible new low on Wednesday.

Promising fast bowler Shaminda Eranga, suffered a freak ankle injury while taking part in a friendly game of soccer to warm up for their final training session before the third and final Test.

Having already conceded the series 2-0 following losses in Hobart and Melbourne, and nursing a battered and bruised squad from the innings and 201-run MCG defeat, the tourists could ill afford more bad news.

The 26-year-old collapsed, and was tended to on the ground by coaching staff for 10 minutes before limping to the dressing rooms where he began icing the ankle.

Sri Lanka were determined to give the right arm quick, who has taken five wickets at 50 this series, every opportunity to play on Thursday but he is in extreme doubt.

Compounding matters, wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene (finger) failed a fitness test on Wednesday and will also miss the Test, with 23-year-old back-up batsman Dinesh Chandimal to take the gloves.

It is the worst possible preparation for Sri Lanka’s final Test under Captain Mahela Jayawardene, who will step down at the end of the series.

At his final media call before the match, Jayawardene admitted he couldn’t name the 11 players who would take the field for the final Test, and that was before he watched Eranga keel over.

It leaves Sri Lanka with just two fast bowlers from their original 16-man squad with a clean bill of health Dhammika Prasad, who played in Melbourne, and Nuwan Pradeep, who has one Test wicket at a cost of 345 runs.

Both will play in Sydney alongside star spinner Rangana Herath, while offspinner Suraj Randiv and paceman Suranga Lakmal, only flown into the country this week, will battle for the final bowling slot should Eranga fail to prove his fitness.

But the 35-year-old Jayawardene refused to make excuses for the luckless tour, instead telling his team they’d let themselves down.

“It is a bit hard (to find motivation for the final Test) but it’s about individuals taking responsibility and knowing what they need to do,” Jayawardene said.

“If you really sit down and look at what we’ve achieved so far in this series, I think it’s not that hard to say ‘no, we haven’t done enough’ and that we need to really stand up and count ourselves.”

Jayawardene admitted the disruptions had taken an enormous toll on his team already this summer, but urged them to rise above it.

“It is (disruptive) but, like I said after Melbourne, these are unexpected things that we need to get our head around and handle the situation the best possible way,” Jayawardene said before the Eranga setback.

“You don’t anticipate three or four guys to go down in just one Test match.

“But it happened so we just need to sit down and see what other options we’ve got.”