Sri Lanka in South Africa Dec-Jan 2011/12

[Paki007]

seriously it was expected a team who can not bat well on the flat pitches of Abu Dhabi ,will surely struggle on the bouncy tracks of SA

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Who would've guessed Murli was the glue that held the batting line-up together

 

[Radonx]

Much better effort from bowlers this morning. Should have gotten Kallis too.

 

[aayush93]

Silva has dropped two catches till now and he is playing as a Specialist keeper.

 

[stefan]

Too bad AB missed out a 100, was a great knock.

Good to see Bouch get some runs, he needs to stick around till Quinton de Kock matures.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

i don't know why tharanga isn't in the team?

if sri lanka are resolved to being terrible they might as well just give him some more opportunities. 4 ODI centuries this year, averaging 45, wasn't great in the pakistan series but he's still clearly one of their best ODI batsmen, surely time to let him bed into the test spot which he'll inevitably end up holding anyway.

 

[Anjula]

Yea, Selectors looks Mighty Stupid.
If I am the selector I select this Squad,

Upul Tharanga(Opening)
Mahela Jayawardana(Opening)
Kumar Sangakkara(WK)
Angelo Matthews(All-Rounder)
Thilan Samaraweera(All-Rounder)
Jeevan Mendis(All-Rounder)
Fareez Maharoof(All-Rounder)
Thissara Perera(All-Rounder)
Rangana Herath(All-Rounder)
Suraj Randiv(Spin)
Ajantha Mendis(Spin)
-Tilakaratne Dilshan-Sub
I Would pick Nuwan and Eranga too if they were not Injured.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

for tests??? nah, come on, I think kashual silva is the right call for wicket keeper. although it's odd that chandimal has not also been considered. sanga is not a test wicket keeper now (he should be bloody captaining though, but it's tough in SL with the nonsense you have to put up with, great article by bayliss on this)

the squad sadly is about as good as it could be, actually SL and australia have a lot in common right now. SL have some young players but while the senior batsmen underperform there is too much weight on their shoulders. Dilshan was always a bit of a flash in the pan but mahela is just all over the place right now.

the pace bowling is just weak and further complicated by injuries whereas the spin bowling is a muddle of three players all in the running and none willing to really cement their place in the side. (mendis in particular, he's not just been decoded, he is bowling far worse than he did when he emerged)

for me tharanga is the only real omission, he is the long term successor to the opening spot, that is unquestionable. his form in ODIs merit a chance and there has been no real reason to persevere with paranavitana as he is average. over two years say, i firmly believe tharange would score more runs, simple as that.

 

[Radonx]

I agree with some points made by StinkyBoHoon. For an opener whose SR is 35 Paranavitanas average of 32 is unacceptable. I think they doesn't consider Tharanga because of his edging tendencies to moving ball though it doesn't hurt to give him a chance again. I'd also like to see how he goes.

I'm not impressed with Kaushal Silva THB. He seems to be rather slow to react. Two chances that he dropped are relatively easy.

And Anjula, I'd give gloves to Prasanna or try Chandimal. We need Sanga as a batsman more than ever right now and I don't believe Maharoof and Jeevan Mendis are test quality.

I also hope Mathews give up his bowling because he breaks down every time he try bowl.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

goodness, sri lanka really need to dig in and put on a partnership. like er... bangladesh? are doing right now.

 

[aussie1st]

Philander stats are so sexy, I thought Harris and Bollinger started their careers brilliantly but he and Pattinson have gone so much better.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I had even already typed "jayawardena joins the 10000 club"

oh dear. kallis playing the door man.

 

[aussie1st]

Hehe that's pretty funny. He can say he was the only one stuck on 9999 test runs.

 

[Adarsh]

I think the Sri Lankan Test side has now slipped below the Pakistan team (screw official rankings). Pakistan at least have a very good bowling line up, still, and their batting is good enough to just about scrape 250-300 on most pitches.

The standard of all sides besides England, India, and South Africa is slipping pretty quickly. Australia are still decent I guess. The rest are awful.

 

[ferg512]

Its sad seeing SL cricket like this, I remember two or three years ago when they were pushing the number 2 spot in tests. I guess not being paid for 8 months doesn't really help things though.

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The standard of all sides besides England, India, and South Africa is slipping pretty quickly. Australia are still decent I guess. The rest are awful.

Bit harsh, I'd have Pakistan up there with those top three sides. I reckon they'll give England a pretty good go in there next series.