• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

Sri Lanka Thread

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
The 30 man squad got named and the only real surprises was the random chinaman spinner Lakshan Sandakan finding a spot and Ramith Rambuckwella (famous for trying to open a airplane cabin door at 35,000 feet) taking the place of Chatarunga de Silva.

This England series is showcasing our spin depth however the more pressing issue is our pace battery, many of whom aren't getting a work-out on these slow home decks, I suspect we will only need two front-line pace bowlers for the WC (Malinga and Prasad ideally) guys like Lakmal and Eranga need some game time in case they are called upon.

The batting looks quite settled on the other hand, spots 2-6 are looking good with Thirrimanne settling into the no 6 role nicely and finding some form, all that remains is the age old problem of finding Dilshan a partner - it's looking unlikely that the selectors will allow Mahela to do it, Kusal Perera seems to be the man.

At this stage guys like Priyanjan, Jeevan Mendis and Seekkuge Prasanna will probably be squeezed out of the side, and Kulasekara's future remains unclear
 

Flem274*

123/5
Bowling probably the big one here. Malinga, Herath and Mathews locks in their roles. I'm not really familliar with SL's fringe in ODIs so do you have any filthy darters or so-so attacking pacers who can do a job? How is Eranga in this format?

Poor Kula. Was once world class in ODIs.
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Prasad is the only genuinely attacking pacer we have who is up to standard in ODIs - and even that remains to be seen tbh. Eranga has had limited chances but has never looked completely out of his depth in ODIs, doesn't really have death bowling skills as far as I'm aware though - which is pre-requisite for being a specialist seamer for SL in ODIs even with Malinga, Lakmal is largely in the same boat. I think Thisara is going to end up as the sort of floating 4th pacer on the strength of his batting, while I think he'll enjoy the quicker decks he can't really be relied upon with the ball unfortunately, will have his days though.

And yeah, hard to watch Kula fall from grace, remember enjoying it so much when he was tearing it up at the Gabba last time we toured Australia
 

morgieb

Request Your Custom Title Now!
The 30 man squad got named and the only real surprises was the random chinaman spinner Lakshan Sandakan finding a spot and Ramith Rambuckwella (famous for trying to open a airplane cabin door at 35,000 feet) taking the place of Chatarunga de Silva.

This England series is showcasing our spin depth however the more pressing issue is our pace battery, many of whom aren't getting a work-out on these slow home decks, I suspect we will only need two front-line pace bowlers for the WC (Malinga and Prasad ideally) guys like Lakmal and Eranga need some game time in case they are called upon.

The batting looks quite settled on the other hand, spots 2-6 are looking good with Thirrimanne settling into the no 6 role nicely and finding some form, all that remains is the age old problem of finding Dilshan a partner - it's looking unlikely that the selectors will allow Mahela to do it, Kusal Perera seems to be the man.

At this stage guys like Priyanjan, Jeevan Mendis and Seekkuge Prasanna will probably be squeezed out of the side, and Kulasekara's future remains unclear
:lol:

That's awesome.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
My preferred XI:
Mahela
Dilshan
Sanga
Matthews
Thirimanne
Tharanga
Thisara
Senanayake
Herath
Prasad
Malinga

Malinga will be fit for sure - he's been bowling in the nets for about a week I think, a lot depends on Senanayake returning to form, batting looks weak below 6 but very strong until then, plenty of bowlers to choose from, 3 spin options and 5 pace bowlers, think it will be up to the spinners and Matthews to bowl cheap overs if they can, Thisara doesn't have to bowl too many overs so if he's having a **** day like normal he can be taken off quickly and left off. Malinga and Prasad to bowl at the death and hopefully Prasad helps to get us off to the right start with some wickets, this team is pretty much relying on the batsmen to chase anything or bat the opponent out of the game, I'd be mildly surprised if we made the semis and quite surprised if we progressed further and shocked if we won, the right players need to come into form for sure
 
Last edited:

Niall

International Coach
Herath is awesome, but not really sure that two frontline spinners are the way to go in Australia/NZ, Mendis on a flat pitch with runs on the board against non minnows won't frighten anyone.

I think Kushul should get the first few ODIS in the NZ series as an opener and if he fails, at the very least move him to the middle order.

Dilshan
Mahela
Kumar
Thirimanne
Angelo
Kushul/ Chandimal
Thisara
Nuwan (hopefully he comes back in the NZ series, did really well last time in Australia)
Prasad/Eranga (both if Nuwan fails in NZ)
Herath
Malinga
 
Last edited:

YorksLanka

International Debutant
Whilst I know what you're saying, I reckon we should play to our strengths I.e quality spinners and so as I posted before,I think we should go with herath and satchi & dilshan with Mathews, malinga ,prasad and thisara..

With that we have control from Mathews, bounce from thisara, swing from prasad and death bowling from malinga I.e variety..
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Unless Kulesakara has a spectacular return to form we won't have 3 quality frontline seamers to put on the park, however we do have 2 world class spinners, we really don't have much of a choice
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
My preferred XI:
Mahela
Dilshan
Sanga
Matthews
Thirimanne
Tharanga
Thisara
Senanayake
Herath
Prasad
Malinga

Malinga will be fit for sure - he's been bowling in the nets for about a week I think, a lot depends on Senanayake returning to form, batting looks weak below 6 but very strong until then, plenty of bowlers to choose from, 3 spin options and 5 pace bowlers, think it will be up to the spinners and Matthews to bowl cheap overs if they can, Thisara doesn't have to bowl too many overs so if he's having a **** day like normal he can be taken off quickly and left off. Malinga and Prasad to bowl at the death and hopefully Prasad helps to get us off to the right start with some wickets, this team is pretty much relying on the batsmen to chase anything or bat the opponent out of the game, I'd be mildly surprised if we made the semis and quite surprised if we progressed further and shocked if we won, the right players need to come into form for sure
Loving the Tharanga selection
 

cnerd123

likes this
Would swap Mathews and Thirimanne around, and slot Chandimal in at 6, but otherwise think Maximas' XI seems the best.

Most likely tho we will see Kausal open the batting with Mahela/Mathews/Thirimanne at 4/5/6.
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Reason I had Matthews so high was because of his ability to play pace bowling, not quite sure Thirimanne is quite there yet and he is enjoying his current role so I'm hesitant to move him too far. Chandimal has looked really ordinary lately, particularly against the short ball, not that Tharanga has been all that much better but I went for experience I guess
 

cnerd123

likes this
Chandimal adds more in the field, and I think he'd be better at hitting out in the death than Tharanga.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
I am really impressed with the teams Yorks and Maximas have put together - I think SL could do some damage. This will be a better world cup than the last one.
 

YorksLanka

International Debutant
Nah as Maximas said, i will be happy if we get to the semi's but i reckon we will have to play our best cricket to do that and dont expect to see us in the final this time...
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
Chandimal adds more in the field, and I think he'd be better at hitting out in the death than Tharanga.

Something else I considered


I don't really think either of them are all that good at the death tbh but the fielding point is a good one, at the end of the day I think it's a bit of a mute point because I honestly think the selectors will go for Kusal or Tharanga at the top and leave Mahela at 4
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Nah as Maximas said, i will be happy if we get to the semi's but i reckon we will have to play our best cricket to do that and dont expect to see us in the final this time...
Why not. What is to stop you posting 330 in the semi if you bat first.

Sanga could just decide I want to win this this cup.

Some heroes will be made in this tournament. De Silva's innings is remembered as a World Cup classic and there will be other such innings this time around.
 

Maximas

Cricketer Of The Year
I am really impressed with the teams Yorks and Maximas have put together - I think SL could do some damage. This will be a better world cup than the last one.
We'll know more after the NZ ODIs but I really think the conditions will make quite a difference, a lot is resting on Dilshan, Sanga, Mahela and Matthews, remains to be seen how Malinga comes back after surgery and how the spinners adapt to the conditions, certainly think if our key players fire we will put up a damn good fight and go deep though
 

Top