Sri Lanka selectors given six-month extension

Wednesday, 5 July 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ESPNcricinfo: The selection committee headed by Sanath Jayasuriya will remain in position for a further six months, SLC has confirmed. This means that by the end of 2017, Jayasuriya will have served as chief selector for more than three-and-a-half of the previous five years.

Having originally assumed the roled in February 2013, Jayasuriya was replaced after Sri Lanka’s poor World Cup outing in 2015, before reclaiming the position after last year’s World T20. Asanka Gurusinha, SLC’s cricket manager, continues to be in the selection committee as well, with former players Romesh Kaluwitharana, Ranjith Madurasinghe and Eric Upashantha also staying in place, in the five-member panel.

The Jayasuriya panel’s reappointment - albeit for a shortened term - comes despite recent criticism that the panel’s selection policy has been inconsistent. No fewer than 38 players have been fielded in Sri Lanka’s 30 ODIs since the panel’s appointment in May last year, and the team has also only won nine of those games, losing 17. Disapproval has also mounted this year, following atrocious Test and ODI outings in South Africa, a Test loss to Bangladesh at home, and a poor Champions Trophy performance.

Jayasuriya’s committee had, however, selected the Test side that beat Australia 3-0 last year, and had also introduced Lakshan Sandakan, Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya de Silva to the Test arena. Though Kusal Mendis had made his Test debut in late 2015, it was only after Jayasuriya’s panel was appointed that he was given a stable place in the ODI side, in which he has since flourished.