December 26, 2010 (Island Cricket): The Premier League Tier-A Limited Overs Tournament, which is scheduled to get underway on Monday after multiple postponements due to bad weather, is expected to provide some recourse for Sri Lanka’s selectors who are keen on observing Sri Lanka’s World Cup hopefuls before they announce their final ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 squad.
After inclement weather conditions in early December forced the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to postpone their five-match ODI series to late January, the Sri Lankan selectors found themselves faced with a situation where they would be forced to rely on the Premier League Tier-A Limited Overs Tournament to finalise their World Cup squad.
However, Aravinda de Silva, the Chairman of Selectors, told reporters earlier this month that his panel had already identified 11 players to be named in Sri Lanka’s final 15-man squad, thereby giving the impression that the selectors were close to finalising the squad ahead of the January 19 deadline.
“We have a basic idea of about 10-11 players but there are a few places which we need to work out, and if we can get some cricket before the final selection it would be ideal,” de Silva said.
But de Silva admitted that the lack of cricket prevented the selectors from working out their “ultimate combination”.
“Missing those five ODIs against West Indies was very crucial because we were really looking at finding an ultimate combination before picking the final 15,” he said.
“There were things which we wanted to try in the five ODIs. It was very unfortunate we missed out on it, but nevertheless we have a basic idea of what we are looking for.”
The following 11 players from the 30-man preliminary squad are expected to make it to the final squad: Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dilhara Fernando.
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