Sri Lanka have called up three Test specialists for the forthcoming
two-match series against Zimbabwe. Thilan Samaraweera, Ian Daniel, an
opening batsman, and Prasanna Jayawardene will leave for Harare on Monday.
The selectors have not yet confirmed which players from the one-day squad
will return home early.
Daniel, a 22-year-old, is included in the Test squad for the first time after
an impressive tour to New Zealand with the A side where he scored 322 runs
at 53.66. His promotion comes at the expense of Hashan Tillakaratne, whose
international career now appears to be over, although he will hope that he
can grab a berth in the team for Australia in June.
Jayawardene has been drafted in to provide wicketkeeping back-up for Kumar
Sangakkara. The selectors are concerned about Sangakkara's double burden of
keeping wicket and batting at No. 3, and have offered him the option of
dropping down the order.
"We feel that Sangakkara is too good a player to be sacrificed at No. 3 if
he is going to keep wicket," said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of
selectors. "Sangakkara is keen to keep wicket, but then we must also look at
the position he is batting, which is ideal for his temperament and the
strokes he has."
If Sangakkara does slip into the middle order, Samaraweera is likely to be
given an opportunity to bed down at No.3, a position that he is better
suited to than the lower middle-order where he can get stuck with the tail.
The first of two Tests will be played at Harare on May 6.