de Mel set to take over tour selection

Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors, Asantha de Mel, is set to take control of selection issues when he arrives in England for the one-day series later this month, a move that is sure to increase the pressure on the coach, Tom Moody.

de Mel, who was recently reappointed for a second stint after being sacked a year ago, is keen for the selectors to blend youth with experience, and to that end he persuaded Sanath Jayasuriya to come out of retirement to reinforce Sri Lanka's Test squad.

Jayasuriya has so far been overlooked in the five-day game, although he is set to take centre stage when the ODIs begin, as he builds towards his anticipated swansong at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

"I did not insist on [Jayasuriya's] inclusion as I take over my duties from the one-day series," de Mel told BBC Sinhala. "I recalled him but he was just another option for the management. But from the ODI series the team will be selected by a resident selector rather than the management."

de Mel added that an independent enquiry should be set up to investigate the circumstances of Jayasuriya's original retirement, after suggestions that he had been forced to quit before he was ready. "Jayasuriya [should] be allowed to speak," he said, "otherwise rumours will always be there."