A media conference was called by Sri Lanka Cricket on the selection of the team to Ireland and even though it was stated at the onset that the briefing was on selection, the media demanded information on coach Paul Farbraces exodus to England.
The head table seated the chief selector of Sri Lanka Cricket Sanath Jayasuriya and consisted of national selectors; Eric Upashantha, Chaminda Mendis, Pramokya Wikramasinghe and the assistant secretary of SLC Hirantha Perera.
To the questions asked by the media as to the captaincy being taken away from Dinesh Chandimal Jayasuriya stated ‘the selectors and officials looked at past records of Chandimal and came to a conclusion that the captaincy pressure was too much. We didn’t want it to cost us a valuable player.” According to him Lasith Malinga who is appointed as the T20 captain was a clear cut choice taking his experience into consideration and his recent success at the concluded T20 World cup.
The media conference grew intense from there on with the members of press firing questions on the topic of Paul Farbrace the Sri Lankan head coach who resigned to take up coaching with England. It had been earlier announced that the briefing was only on the selections as only the selection panel was present, however questions for directed at the Assistant Secretary Hirantha Perera where the media requested answers as to how the sum of pounds 35,000 paid to Yorkshire Cricket club to get him released would be retrieved and why he was put on a 6 month probation period allowing him a clause to leave as he pleases. Mr Hirantha Perera replied that there was a possibility that the ECB will be willing to pay back this amount to the SLC and the probation clause in the contract was so SLC could also dispose of the coach if he was not suitable. “ we wanted to make sure it was a two sided agreement, we wanted to see if he would be right and if we or the players would have any issues which gladly, we didn’t have”.
It was also brought to light that the SLC pocketed out 8 million rupees to organize a tour for the Yorkshire side as a part of the compensation agreement. This money is non- refundable.
Lahiru Thirimanne has been appointed vice captain in all three formats of the game. “Thirimanne has performed well in all formats, we want him to gain experience and mature” Jayasuriya in reply to a question of the media on the appointment of Thirimanna.
The media posed the obvious question that when Chandimal was appointed there was similar thinking and couldn’t the same thing happen to Thirimanne? To this Jayasuriya emphasized that “Thirimanne is a different kind of player, he has been versatile in many positions and there is a huge difference between the responsibility of a captain and a vice captain. He will definitely do well both in terms of his personal career and his duties as vice captain”
It should be mentioned that legend Mahela Jayawardane was given the responsibility of vice-captain but was not successful yet went on to become one of the most successful captains of Sri Lanka in later years.
Three openers have been named for the squad to Ireland resting the three seniors Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawardane and a few other players who are not in the T20 squad will fly to England to play a few county games which are yet to be confirmed, to adapt to the conditions.
“The main motive of the Ireland tour is to provide an opportunity to youth players to gain exposure and make a name for themselves” said the Chairman of selectors. The team definitely has a young look to it and this is an ideal stepping stone for youngsters like Ashan Priyanjana, Kithruwan Vithanage etc to progress in their careers. He stated that Niroshan Dikwella had performed well in the premier ODI tournament and it is the reason he made it to the side.
It was also stated by the selectors that the little spin master Rangana Herath has been rested from the T20 squad as he is a valuable asset and has problems in his knees and needs to be used carefully. Selector Pramokya Wikramasinghe mentioned that there is also a good line up fast bowlers in the likes of Nuwan Kulassekara, Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad and a few more to come up the ladder from the ‘A’ Team. The bowling department seems to be very strong, special attention would have definitely been paid by the coaches considering the fast bouncy pitches in the UK.
The question of who would coach the Sri Lankan team was the next debate and Jayasuriya indicated that conversations were being made with batting coach Marvan Athapattu but the matter is not finalized.
The most pertinent question brought up by the media was that Farbrace would carry with him to the opposition a load of knowledge of the Sri Lanka team. Jayasuriya affirmed that it was a very good question and is going to be a very big challenge for the Sri Lankan team. “He knows our team inside out, all our plans and stratgies” said Hon. Sanath Jayasuriya “It will definitely be a big challenge for us”
The young Sri Lankan team will take on Ireland in their first game on the 6th of May in Dublin and the recently World cup crowned team would look to continue their form in the United Kingdom.
Ireland conditions will prove difficult for the young Sri Lankan team sans senior players and coach and would be the exact ‘being thrown into the deep-end’ that will be required to build some character and fighting qualities in the younger players.
