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| Thursday, 3 March 2005 |
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15-member squad picked to confront England 'A' : Mubarak to lead Lanka 'A' By Sa'adi Thawfeeq Elegant left-hander Jehan Mubarak will lead Sri Lanka 'A' in their two 4-day unofficial tests against England 'A' later this month. The national selection committee which met on Tuesday picked a squad of 15 players for the two matches which will be played at the CCC grounds from March 7-10 and at the NCC grounds from March 13-16. England will also figure in a one-day triangular contest with Sri Lanka 'A' and Pakistan 'A'. Twenty-four year-old Mubarak captained Sri Lanka 'A' on their tour to England last year where they won eight out of ten matches against county sides losing the last match to Somerset and drawing against the West Indies. He was later picked to play for Sri Lanka in the two Tests in Pakistan later that year. Mubarak's deputy is another left-hander Thilina Kandamby who has been in great form for Central Province in the on-going provincial tournament rattling off two centuries in three innings to average 98.66. Kandamby is also a member of the Sri Lanka 'A' team that toured England. In fact ten members of that team comprise the squad of 15. The only exceptions are fast bowlers Nandika Ranjith and Chanaka Welagedera, spinners Malinga Bandara and Sajeewa Weerakoon and batsman Anushka Polonowita who toured India with the 'A' team nearly two years ago. Selections were mainly based on current form with the batsmen virtually picking themselves on their own individual performances in the provincial tournament. Avishka Gunawardene with two hundreds including a career best 209 for North Central Province against Western Province leads the way with an aggregate of 388, followed by Polonowita with 367, Kandamby 296, Shantha Kalavitigoda 256, Ian Daniel 230 and Mubarak 153. Three fast bowlers - Thilina Thushara, Ranjith and Welagedera, one fast bowling all-rounder - Gayan Wijekoon, three spinners - Bandara, Weerakoon and Suraj Mohamed, and one wicket-keeper - Prasanna Jayawardene make up the 15. Left-arm spinner Weerakoon who turns out for BRC was the leading wicket-taker in the 2004-05 Premier trophy tournament with 50 wickets at 20.00 runs apiece. Ranjith and Suraj with 24 wickets each, Thushara with 20 and Bandara with 18 were the other leading wicket-takers in the tournament. Selection committee sources said that some of the players included in the squad would in all probability also figure in the 15-member Sri Lanka team for the two Test matches in New Zealand next month. The team to New Zealand is expected to be named next week. England 'A' led by Ian Bell, the 22-year-old Warwickshire all-rounder is due to arrive on Saturday and go straight into the first four-day unofficial test. They are currently touring UAE where they have recorded victories by 42 runs and 66 runs against the UAE national side in the first two of four matches played at Sharjah. SRI LANKA 'A' SQUAD: Jehan Mubarak, captain (CCC), Thilina Kandamby, vice-captain (Bloomfield), Avaishka Gunawardene (SSC), Ian Daniel (Bloomfield), Shantha Kalavitigoda (Colts), Anushka Polonowita (CCC), Malintha Gajanayake (Chilaw Marians), Gayan Wijekoon (Chilaw Marians), Prasanna Jayawardene (NCC), Thilina Thushara (NCC), Nandika Ranjith (Tamil Union), Chanaka Welagedera (Moors SC), Malinga Bandara (Galle CC), Sajeewa Weerakoon (BRC), Suraj Mohamed (SSC). ENGLAND 'A' SQUAD: Ian Bell, captain (Warwickshire), Rikki Clarke (Surrey), Richard Dawson (Yorkshire), Paul Franks (Nottinghamshire), Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire), David Harrison (Glamorgan), Jonathan Lewis (Gloucestershire), Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire), Alistair Cook (Essex), Mike Powell (Glamorgan), Matthew Prior (Sussex), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire), Graeme Swann (Northamptonshire), Rod Marsh (Coach), Nigel Laughton (Manager), Stuart Osborne (Physiotherapist). |
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