With Ussie gone it’s time for the backup ’world class‘ option and pick Perera’s teammate, Angelo Mathews. He has found a glorious second wind ever since his move to the number four role (seriously, how on earth did it take everyone so long to finally play him at the team’s best position?) in the post COVID era of tests and has been averaging above 50 since 2022. Hasn’t quite found the same level of success in white ball cricket but I’d put that down more to the team’s own manic desire to change things up from series to series and his own lack of motivation given the lack of role security. In our side I doubt there’ll be such worries for him, he’ll bat at four and bowl an over or two if he feels bored.
Remember that one bloke who briefly filled the middle-order slot just below the likes of Jayasuriya, Atapattu, Sangakkara and Jayawardena for Sri Lanka around the time of the 2007 World Cup? And did so well enough to average close to 50 for the year and put in quite a few useful performances in the World Cup itself during Sri Lanka's run to the final where the only thing that prevented them from getting their hands on the trophy was an invincible Australian lineup. He faded away and slipped into obscurity in the years following to the point where I suppose most would assume he's another old couch potato by now. Heck no, Chamara Silva is still around in his 44th year scoring fifties at first-class and List-A level and doesn't seem to be in the mood for hanging up his boots just yet. He made his debut in 1996/97, less than a year after I was born which makes him perhaps the most ancient player still around alongside Imran Tahir who's already in my XI.
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