Sri Lanka’s white ball captain Angelo Mathews has confirmed that his break from bowling is only going to be temporary. Mathews’ Economy Rate of 4:61 is the best among Sri Lanka’s current bowlers – pace or spin.
Source: The Island
Sri Lanka’s white ball captain Angelo Mathews will return to cricket over the weekend when he leads Kandy against Galle in the Inter-Provincial First Class competition at Suriyawewa. Mathews has played just one game this year as a series of hamstring and calf injuries has kept him out from both international and domestic cricket.
Read: No more bowling for Mathews
Mathews will play the four-day game as a specialist batsman only as he has been requested to give up bowling to avoid injuries. However, the 30-year-old said that it will be only a temporary measure and he is hopeful that he will be able to perform as an all-rounder when the World Cup is around the corner.
“I am looking forward to get back to playing again. The next few months I am not too keen on bowling. The selectors are of the view that we start with batting. I am confident that if I get through the next couple of tours without any injuries, by the time the World Cup is around, I will be able to bowl again. Not bowling is not going to be a permanent thing. My work load has to be managed and that is what the selectors are concerned about,” Mathews told The Island.
Previously too different selection panels and coaching staff had wanted Mathews to play only as a specialist batsman, but they have turned back on those words when they face the desperate situation of balancing the side.
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Mathews has claimed over 100 ODI wickets but it is his excellent control that makes him an important cog in the team’s bowling department. His Economy Rate of 4.61 is the best by any Sri Lankan current bowler – pace or spin. No other current Sri Lankan bowler has maintained an Economy Rate of below five.
Sri Lanka had a horrendous year in white ball cricket in 2017 that saw them slip to number eight in both ODI and T-20 Rankings.
“We have had a few chats with our Head Coach and the selectors on how we need to move forward. Everything we will be doing from now onwards will be thinking about the World Cup. At the same time, we know that every bilateral series is important,” Mathews noted.
“We need to have a winning momentum. We need to introduce a few players and see how they are going and on the other hand we need to manage a few players. So it is a balancing act,” Mathews went onto say.
Sri Lanka are scheduled to play three bilateral series and the Asia Cup ahead of the World Cup, which is a minimum of 20 ODIs.
Apart from the four-day First Class match that gets underway on Saturday, Mathews also intends to play a few one-day games of the Inter-Provincial tournament prior to the tour of West Indies in June.
