Angelo Mathews Dropped from Sri Lanka Squad for England ODIs
Sep 26, 2018 at 7:18 PM
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has dropped Angel Mathews from the 15-member squad to take on England in the upcoming five-match ODI series, starting on October 10.
Meanwhile, Dinesh Chandimal will lead Sri Lanka for both the ODI and Test series versus England. This comes as a surprise as Mathews has been in good form in recent times. Angelo Mathews has amassed 1597 runs at an average of over 48 since the 2015 World Cup. Mathews, though, has found a place 16-man Test squad for the three-match Test series against England, commencing on November 6.
Sadeera Samarawickrama, who made his ODI debut last year against Pakistan, has replaced Mathews. The middle-order batsman has scored 296 runs at an average of 59.2 in List A games this season. Suranga Lakmal and Kusal Mendis have also been left out of the set-up. Lakmal played just one game in the Asia Cup while Mendis couldn’t score a single run in the two games.
Nuwan Pradeep has earned a recall in place of Lakmal, who has struggled due to injuries in the recent past. Lakshan Sandakan, who was not in the Asia Cup squad, has earned a recall. The spinner, who has impressed so far, replaces Dilruwan Perera. Shehan Madushanka, Kusal Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lakmal, Jeffrey Vandersay are the standbys.
In the Test squad, Danuskha Gunathilaka, the opener hasn’t found a place due to injury. In July, Gunathilaka also received a suspension for six international matches by SLC, for an alleged breach of a code of conduct regulations.
Lahiru Kumara, the tearaway fast bowler who impressed in the Test series against the Windies this year, picking 17 wickets, got a nod subject to fitness.
Sri Lanka are set to play five ODIs, three Tests and one T20I against England, with the matches spread over a month.
ODI squad:
Test squad:
Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Malinda Pushpakumara, Akila Dananjaya, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara*, Lakshan Sandakan, Niroshan Dickwella.