da heads bet： Hashan Tillakaratne, 33, has been recalled into a 22-man Sri Lankan nationaltraining squad for the forthcoming One-International Triangular tournamentagainst India and New Zealand in July and the three-match Test seriesagainst India in August
Charlie Austin17-May-2001Hashan Tillakaratne, 33, has been recalled into a 22-man Sri Lankan nationaltraining squad for the forthcoming One-International Triangular tournamentagainst India and New Zealand in July and the three-match Test seriesagainst India in August.The newly appointed selection committee added seven names to the 15-mansquad that participated in Sharjah last month during a long discussion lastnight. The other players added to the squad were Aravinda de Silva, SureshPerera, Dulip Liyanage, and three left arm spinners: Dinuk Hettiarachchi,Niroshan Bandaratillake, and Sanjeewa Weerakoon.The Chairman of the five-man Selection Committee, Tikiri Banda Kehelgamuwa,said that he expected that the 15-man one-day squad to form the rump of thesquad for the triangular series. Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratneand the other five players are in contention for the Indian Test series.Nevertheless, Kehegamuwa, refused to rule out the possibility of changes,handing out an olive branch to members of the A team, who will take onPakistan A in a three-Test/ODI series in June.Hashan Tillakaratne was dropped from both the one-day and Test nationalsquads after the 1999 World Cup in England, when the selectors embarked upona youth policy. The selectors reiterated their commitment towards youthagain this week, but the could not ignore Tillakaratne, who impressedthroughout the domestic season, scoring three centuries and 665 runs at anaverage of 110.It is, however, unlikely that both Aravinda de Silva and Hashan Tillakaratnewill both find a place in the final Test team.Sanjeewa Weerakoon, 21, an accurate left arm spinner, is the only player tohave not played a Test or ODI for Sri Lanka in the 22-man squad. He gets hischance after topping the bowling averages this year, having taken 79 wicketsfor Burgher Recreation Club, including three ten-wicket match hauls. He willface tough competition, however, for a place, with both Hettiarachchi andBanadaratillake in the squad too.The two fast bowlers, Dulip Liyanage and Suresh Perera, are recalledafter a period of absence precipitated through injury. Liyanage, a sharpoperator who swings the ball away from the right handers, suffered an ankleinjury after playing in eight Test matches in the mid 1990’s, but was backto his best this year, taking 66 wickets in 11 games.Suresh Perera suffered from a stress fracture of his back after impressingon his debut against England at the Oval in 1998 and has struggled to regainhis form and confidence since. He is though valued highly by the management,despite only taking 19 wickets this season.Both players are useful with the bat – Liyange averaged 22 this season forColts CC and Perera averaged 31 for the Sinhalese Sports Club – and wouldstrengthen the lower order, making them ideal candidates for the one-dayside.The squad have already commenced training in Colombo.