Sports
Tharanga justifies Wellalage selection
by Rex Clementine
Former captain Upul Tharanga was an admirable bloke when he was playing cricket and he is earning bigger accolades as Chairman of Selectors. Since assuming duties early this year, he has held a media briefing before every home series or tour explaining his decisions. Yesterday was no different as he met journalists at SLC headquarters to discuss the squad picked for the T-20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States.
Tharanga shed light into every selection that was made explaining some of the tough calls the selectors had to make. Tharanga’s committee has shown transparency, honesty and accountability. Had it been showcased by his predecessors, Sri Lanka wouldn’t have suffered the humiliation of missing out on a Champions Trophy slot.
The selection of Dunith Wellalage had surprised a few as the all-rounder is yet to make his debut in the shortest format of the game although he had been a regular in the ODI format. Tharanga explained why the 21-year-old was picked.
“When you take the conditions in United States and West Indies, we believe the wickets will be slow there. We played two spinners this year during our bilateral series. We believe that during the World Cup we might need an additional spinner. The left-arm spinner gives you the option of bowling during Power Plays. He also gives you the option of playing a spin bowing all-rounder instead of a seam bowling all-rounder.”
But should Wellalage have been featured in T-20s had he been in the selectors’ plans? “You can’t say that he wasn’t in our plans. But our combination didn’t allow us to play him. Dunith only gets a break when the front-line bowlers aren’t available and he has done justice from the opportunities he has got.”
Sri Lanka also have Dhananjaya de Silva in the 15-member squad and Tharanga said that the squad had enough fire power and the all-round spin bowling option was preferred over the others.
The national cricket team will leave for New York this evening (Tuesday). The team will have a two-week preparation camp in New York. Their campaign gets underway on the 3rd June against South Africa.
Sri Lanka are pooled in Group ‘D’ alongside the Proteas, Nepal, Netherlands and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka will be in US for a month and will play Dallas and Florida as well apart from New York. Their last group game is in St. Lucia in the Caribbean and if they qualify for the second round will move to Antigua.
An ODI between Canada and Netherlamds in King City Toronto on Tuesday was abandoned due to a dangerous pitch. The fixture was part of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 competition, which is part of the qualification pathway for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The match was abandoned just 4.1 overs into the Netherlands innings after they had chosen to bat. They were 15 for 1, with Max O’Dowd the batter dismissed for a duck in the second over. The pitch had uneven bounce and the batters were struck several times during the short passage of play.
On June 12, four days before the abandoned match, the ICC had issued a statement saying the pitch at King City that was used for an ODI between USA and the Netherlands on June 8 had been given an “unsatisfactory” rating and one demerit point.
“This was a pitch that fell below the standard expected for this level of cricket,” match referee Phil Thompson had said about the surface for the USA-Netherlands match. “Both captains expressed disappointment with how it turned out, and the match officials assessed it as ‘very poor’. The inconsistent bounce created challenging and potentially unsafe playing conditions. Taking all factors into consideration, I believe the pitch merits an ‘unsatisfactory’ rating.”
According to the ICC’s pitch and outfield monitoring process, pitches that get an “unsatisfactory” rating will be given one demerit point, while an “unfit” pitch rating will result in three demerit points for the venue. Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period, and an accumulation of six demerit points will result in the venue being suspended from hosting international matches for 12 months (12 demerit points will lead to a 24-month ban).
(Cricinfo)
Joshua Da Silva and Amir Jangoo have earned recalls to West Indies’ squad for the two-match World Test Championship series at home against Sri Lanka starting later this month, while the two Josephs, Alzarri and Shamar, are back after missing the tours of India and New Zealand late last year because of injuries.
Trevin Imalch had kept wicket when West Indies last played Test cricket, in New Zealand last December, but Da Silva, 33 Test matches old, has returned after scoring 996 runs across the last two seasons of the West Indies Championship. Imlach, who failed with the bat in New Zealand with a total of 81 runs across six innings – after scoring 33 runs in his only Test in India – has been named captain of a West Indies Select XI to play the Sri Lankans in a tour match in Coolidge from June 18 to 21. Roston Chase will continue to captain the Test side.
West Indies vs Sri Lanka Tests
Jangoo, dropped after only one Test appearance, in Multan in January 2025, where he scored 0 and 30, has returned to the side following a fruitful WI Championship in which he scored 411 runs in seven innings. He finished second on the scorers’ table there, only behind Da Silva, who scored 413 in seven outing. The highlight of Jangoo’s season was the 203 not out he scored for Trinidad & Tobago against Leeward Islands
The pair of Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph, meanwhile, last played Test cricket during the home series against Australia in mid-2025.”Every Test series is an opportunity for us to grow as a team and strengthen our identity,” Darren Sammy, the head coach, said in a Cricket West Indies statement. “Sri Lanka are a quality side, so we know we’ll have to be at our best, but we’re excited about the challenge ahead.”For us, it’s about playing with discipline, showing character when the game gets tough, and representing the West Indies with pride. The players have been putting in the work, and we’re looking forward to putting on a strong display for our fans across the Caribbean.”
Some of the squad members are currently participating in a high-performance training camp in Antigua, which began on June 12 and will run till June 22. The members of the Test squad who were also part of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka – West Indies lost the ODIs and won the T20Is – will join the camp on June 15. The Tests will be played in North Sound from June 25 to 29 and July 3 to 7.
“This is a key component of our preparations heading into the series, providing players and coaches with valuable time to enhance and improve the skills we want to see sharpened, based on the areas we need to focus our attention on when facing this opponent,” Sammy said about the camp. “It also gives us the opportunity to put clear objectives and plans in place for the conclusion of the summer against Pakistan.
“Additionally, the four-day warm-up game prior to the series provides the chance for some of our Test hopefuls to play in high-intensity action and create the avenue for more competition within the squad ahead of the upcoming and future series.”
West Indies are currently bottom of the nine-team WTC table, having lost seven of their eight games in the ongoing cycle.
West Indies squad for Test series against Sri Lanka
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