Sri Lanka in England 2011

[Lassana Dias]

Sat May 14 - Mon May 16
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST Middlesex v Sri Lankans
Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground

Thu May 19 - Sun May 22
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST England Lions v Sri Lankans
County Ground, Derby

Thu May 26 - Mon May 30
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST 1st Test - England v Sri Lanka
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Fri Jun 3 - Tue Jun 7
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST 2nd Test - England v Sri Lanka
Lord's, London

Fri Jun 10 - Sun Jun 12
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST Essex v Sri Lankans
County Ground, Chelmsford

Thu Jun 16 - Mon Jun 20
10:00 GMT | 11:00 local
15:30 IST 3rd Test - England v Sri Lanka
The Rose Bowl, Southampton

Wed Jun 22
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST Worcestershire v Sri Lankans
County Ground, New Road, Worcester

Sat Jun 25
13:30 GMT | 14:30 local
19:00 IST Only T20I - England v Sri Lanka
County Ground, Bristol

Tue Jun 28
12:00 GMT | 13:00 local
17:30 IST 1st ODI - England v Sri Lanka
Kennington Oval, London

Fri Jul 1
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST 2nd ODI - England v Sri Lanka
Headingley, Leeds

Sun Jul 3
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST 3rd ODI - England v Sri Lanka
Lord's, London

Wed Jul 6
13:00 GMT | 14:00 local
18:30 IST 4th ODI - England v Sri Lanka
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Sat Jul 9
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST 5th ODI - England v Sri Lanka
Old Trafford, Manchester

Mon Jul 11
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST Only ODI - Ireland v Sri Lanka
Grange Cricket Club Ground, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

Wed Jul 13
09:45 GMT | 10:45 local
15:15 IST Only ODI - Scotland v Sri Lanka
Grange Cricket Club Ground, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

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Sri Lanka squad: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Dinesh Chandimal, 8 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 9 Thisara Perera, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Ajantha Mendis, 12 Rangana Herath, 13 Dilhara Fernando, 14 Chanaka Welegedara, 15 Suranga Lakmal, 16 Nuwan Pradeep

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And about malinga, he is just a warrior who turned in to a mercenary, thank you IPL. Personally I feel SLC should just get rid of him for good and let him earn money. There are many players who would die to play for the country without money even. Not that this people are so poor or anything!!!!

Nuwan Pradeep can take his place, he is not as good as malinga but the guy is fast. And have a slinging action. Its better to have a weak warrior then a strong mercenary

 

[Iridium]

I can see how you could play through an injury in T20 since it's such a short game but not in a Test, which is over 5 days. Then again you shouldn't really be playing at all if you're injured.

Sri Lanka in England 2011: Sri Lanka board to ask Malinga to return from IPL | Cricket News | England v Sri Lanka 2011 | ESPN Cricinfo

Malinga has shown a reluctance to play Test cricket since he sustained a long-term knee injury more than two years ago. Since December 2007, he has played only two Tests - against India at home last year - and has confined himself to playing in limited overs and Twenty20 cricket, where he has been very successful. He has, however, not officially stated that he is unavailable to play Test cricket for Sri Lanka.

As is the case with most fast bowlers who have experienced long lay-offs due to injury (eg Brett Lee and Shane Bond), they probably realise that in order to prolong their international career, they have to give up a format of the game. And with all the money flying around T20 these days, Tests is usually what gives way.

Malinga hasn't said outright he doesn't want to play Tests, but I imagine his mind is on his previous injuries and also the money he's getting from playing in the IPL. I reckon if the IPL wasn't running parallel to the tour of England, Malinga would be more inclined to play the Test matches.

 

[Lassana Dias]

Spot on mate, yes I personally don’t think he have an injury to start with. Can any one see a injured bowler when he bowls 145k Yorkers in the IPL…. Its just money over duty for the country!!! Shame on him

 

[sami ullah khan]

This is why I said Malinga will not be a successful test bowler because test cricket is not his priority. With T20 spewing money all around, fast bowlers will increasingly limit themselves to shorter versions of the game. This unfortunately is price the world cricket has to pay for T20 extravaganza.

 

[Lassana Dias]

This is why I said Malinga will not be a successful test bowler because test cricket is not his priority. With T20 spewing money all around, fast bowlers will increasingly limit themselves to shorter versions of the game. This unfortunately is price the world cricket has to pay for T20 extravaganza.

But for most people country comes first know, can you think of Imran Khan saying no to Pakistan so that he can play for English country and make more money!!! or sachin saying he?s not fit to play for India. So he will just play for MI and make millions

 

[Near]

Well, in my opinion one thing that IPL has done is reveal a player's true image if they are playing more for money or more for the love of the game/ country

 

[Iridium]

But heck, I don't blame him. If I had to pick between playing Test's for my country and playing a few T20s for a truckload of money, I'd pick the money. Now that's not saying I don't have pride when playing for my country. The lure of financial security is pretty hard to ignore.

 

[Near]

^Well, I agree with you actually. If I was a fast bowler who had a hard time lasting 5 days and had fitness issues where as I could just bowl 4 overs and get tons of money, I would pick Money over country. You need money in life, you even need it to make an impression on a girl

 

[Lassana Dias]

You guys are forgetting that A) they are not poor people to start with B) still you get paid for playing test cricket C) you become who you are today, by playing for the country D) these guys are milliners who wants more and more money, while the average supporter spends 20% of he’s monthly salary to come to a ground and watch them, support them when they play for their country!!!

sounds fair to you?

 

[Near]

I get your point, Lassana but I think Malinga is a different story as he actually does have fitness issues but it's true that some players are just in for the money( is Gayle a good example?). And it is true that Malinga is not a backyard cricketer like me so he is rich

 

[Lassana Dias]

Lets not spend time on this useless one malinga, for me cricketers are warriors not mercenaries !!!!!!

Back to the topic, I don’t think SL will do well on this tour

We just lost out main weapon murali, and the best all-rounder Anjalo. But hope new guys get something out. Watch out for Chandimal (he could be something special) and nuwan pradeep ( I have faced this guy, he can be FAST) people say he is clocking 145-150

But overall ENG should win most matches

 

[ShamiLoverGlipGlops]

I don't see any wrong in Malinga playing for IPL. Your so called best off spinner and most respected spinner Murali also said that I am unhappy with the decision of SLC to call their players back so early
He said all srilankan players are facing financial problem back home as they are not paid heavy by the board and the board going against BCCI would not what I want to see

Its because of them that we are living a good life and if we don't play IPL I am sure we wouldn't have been having even this amount of money that we currently have

@ LS please can you atleast not make spelling errors for the player names
Its not Anjalo

 

[Lassana Dias]

Your Ignored (I hope I got my spelling right this time )

 

[Haarithan]

Should be an easy win for England now (2-0/3-0) . I just don't see SL taking 20 wickets over 5 days in England with their current bowling attack . Mendis has been rubbish for Somerset until now , Lakmal & Pradeep are inexperienced , Fernando & Welegedera are inconsistent . Plus , SL don't play well in swinging conditions (Jo'Burg 2009 Champions trophy against England) , so Jimmy is expected to rip them apart . I have actually never been so confident over England before this tour .

 

[Lassana Dias]

Should be an easy win for England now (2-0/3-0) . I just don't see SL taking 20 wickets over 5 days in England with their current bowling attack . Mendis has been rubbish for Somerset until now , Lakmal & Pradeep are inexperienced , Fernando & Welegedera are inconsistent . Plus , SL don't play well in swinging conditions (Jo'Burg 2009 Champions trophy against England) , so Jimmy is expected to rip them apart . I have actually never been so confident over England before this tour .

that is bit too over-confident, dont you think !! ENG players are yet to master Mendis, and Sri Lankan top order would not be any push overs as well for Jimmy.

More realistically I say 45-55 ENG. But ODIs would be tuff for the home team