Sri Lanka in England 2016May 3, 2016
Mathews hints
at giving Dickwella chance at No. 3
Sri Lanka Test captain Angelo Mathews has hinted that they might give
wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella a chance at No. 3 during the Tests in
England.
Sri Lanka's tour begins at the end of this week, with a three-day game
against Essex in Chelmsford, before they head to Leicester for their second
warm-up match. The first Test starts on May 19 at Headingley.
"We will try to play a fixed side and make sure the players are
given permanent positions," Mathews said. "But at this point of time
Dimuth [Karunaratne] and Kaushal [Silva] will be our openers and the No. 3 spot
will be occupied by either Kusal Mendis, who is shaping up well, or Niroshan
Dickwella."
Dickwella has only batted in the lower order so far in his four Tests.
He made his debut at No. 7 against South Africa in 2014, with scores of 72 and
16. He has not batted above No. 6 yet.
Mendis, another wicketkeeper-batsman, made his Test debut at No. 3
against West Indies last October after Lahiru Thirimanne lost that spot because
of poor form. Mendis then batted at No3 in New Zealand in December, with scores
of 46, 31, 46 and 8.
Thirimanne averages 20.66 with only one fifty in the seven matches he
has played over the last 12 months, but Mathews was confident Thirimanne would
come good during the England tour.
"Lahiru is recovering from a hamstring injury which he first picked
up in New Zealand and if he is fit he will play in the first Test. We need his
experience in the batting."
Though the Sri Lankan side lacks experience, Mathews said they could
overcome that issue with their fearless approach. Mathews, with 56 Tests, and
left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, with 67, are the only players in the squad who
have more than 50 Test caps.
"When you have a young and inexperienced side you have nothing to
lose but go out there and perform, that's what the team will do. The key is
their fearless attitude to take up the challenge and deliver.
"We came close to beating New Zealand twice and we won the Test
series against West Indies. This team has the potential to perform and win. The
two warm-up games will be crucial for us to acclimatise ourselves to the
conditions we are going to come up against. We are going into two extremes of
temperatures, from the high we have been experiencing at home to almost
freezing point in England. The need to adjust very quickly to the changes is
the key. If we can do that we can overcome a major hurdle."
Headingley, the venue for the first Test, has fond
memories for Mathews and eight others in the present squad - they beat England
there two summers ago by
100 runs. That victory gave Sri Lanka their first series win in England, not
counting standalone Tests. Karunaratne, Silva, Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal,
Dhammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep and Dilruwan Perera, along with
Mathews and Herath, are those in the present squad who had also toured in 2014.
Mathews had a memorable series that year, scoring a
hundred in his first appearance at Lord's in the first Test, a match Sri Lanka drew with
one wicket in hand. In the next match, Mathews' monumental hundred laid the
foundation for that historic win. He achieved career-best performances with
both bat and ball in that match - his 160 was preceded by 4 for 44 in England's
first innings.
"It was my first tour of England and I managed to adjust to the
conditions and come out on top," Mathews said. "I expect the same
with the present crop of players, most of whom are alien to English conditions.
"I am quite confident we can achieve the same result this time
around. I know that we are a bit on the inexperienced side without the likes of
Sanga [Kumar Sangakkara] and Mahela [Jayawardene] but I won't say that batting
is the weak point … maybe in experience, yes. This team is prepared to take on
anyone with their fearless approach.
"Preparations for the tour have been good, I am very happy the way
we have gone about it. We left a lot of grass on the pitches we practiced on,
and we started practice very early in the morning so that the bowlers were able
to get some swing on the ball, especially up in Pallekele."
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