Best chance to win a Test in the Caribbean - Mahela

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that the two-Test series against the West Indies starting next month would offer his team a great opportunity to win a Test in the Caribbean. However Jayawardene cautioned that his team would have to play some smart cricket to achieve that.

“The West Indies may not be all that strong but they have some decent cricketers. If we don’t play to our potential we are not going to do well. The two Tests provide us with a great opportunity to win in the West Indies,” Jayawardene told The Bottom Line. The 15-member Sri Lanka squad leaves for the Caribbean tomorrow.

The Sri Lanka captain stated that the tour would afford the opportunity for a player to fill in the slot of veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya who has retired from Test cricket.

He said that Michael Vandort had sealed one of the opening slots following the retirement of Marvan Atapattu and hoped that the West Indies tour would fill in the other vacancy.

“What we need is to find another opener to fill Sanath’s position. Upul (Tharanga) is going through a bit of a rough period but that’s why Malinda (Warnapura) has been given the opportunity. Everyone says he is a very good cricketer and that he is working really hard at domestic level. We feel that if these guys have the potential we should give them deserving opportunities. Micky has taken that opportunity and he’s batting very well. He will continue to take the senior role in that combination,” said Jayawardene.

“What we need are guys to be consistent for a period of time and be responsible. Upul’s had a pretty decent run. It’s probably a good thing that he is getting a break. He is still young and I honestly feel that he’s got a lot of talent and he should be given more opportunities in the future to develop into a very good opening batsman for Sri Lanka. Right now he is going through a period where he needs time off. His poor form has created a problem in the openers’ slot but we have Mickey who’s settled in nicely. We just need to find another guy who can be consistent,” he said.

Jayawardene said the new Guyana wicket where his team played a couple of one day games during the 2007 World Cup would suit spin although it was on the slow side.

“Trinidad is a venue where they usually have a little bit of pace and bounce and a bit of movement. We played there one year ago but we don’t know how the wickets been behaving right now. I reckon Guyana will be more suitable for spin,” he said.

Jayawardene admitted that the absence of Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin had in a way contributed to the inclusion of a similar spinner Rangana Herath ahead of right-arm leg-spin bowler Malinga Bandara.

“The selectors as well as a lot of people have been saying that Rangana is bowling at domestic level and that he is a better bowler for the longer version and that he will be a very good support bowler for Murali. The selectors were of the opinion that Rangana would be a good choice if it comes to playing two spinners. We went in that direction,” said Jayawardene. “Malinga has been with us for quite some time, he has toured a lot and played a lot of cricket. Unfortunately Malinga hasn’t had the opportunity to play Test cricket because of Murali and the combinations that we went with but on and off he’s had his opportunities. He’s still part of the game. The World Cup is in the subcontinent and we might play two spinners.”

Sri Lanka’s previous two tours to the Caribbean for a two-Test series had resulted in 1-0 losses (1 drawn) in 1997 and 2003.