Niroshan Bandaratilleke

Bandaratilleke made a instant impact in his debut series against New Zealand at home. His left arm orthodox slow bowling provided the perfect support for Muttiah Muralitharan. Bandatatilleke pushed the ball through and hit the wicket hard. He took advantage of a poor Galle wicket to capture the match figures of 9/82 in only his second Test match. In all Bandaratilleke captured sixteen wickets in the series. However, he had a minor impact on the following tour to England, playing only two tour matches. Reinstated for Sri Lanka's second Asian Test Championship maych against Pakistan at the Gaddafi Stadium, he bowled tidily taking 3 wickets in the drawn Test. Somewhat surprisingly ignored by the selectors since, Bandaratilleke was not selected in the initial squad for the home series against the Australian side. (Johann Jayasekera, benj@primus.com.au)