Angelo Mathews willing to return to Sri Lanka fold

Angelo Mathews could be in line for a return to the Sri Lanka fold after making himself available for selection again. While there has been no official communication from either Sri Lanka Cricket or Mathews in this regard, ESPNcricinfo understands Mathews had mailed SLC of his intentions and that the board will take a final decision on the matter at a meeting on Tuesday.

Mathews had made himself unavailable for selection earlier this year, saying he was disillusioned by the treatment he and other seniors had received during a months-long contract standoff. Under the central contracts offered by the board, Mathews was set to take a pay cut in the range of USD 50,000 (LKR 99,50,000 approx).

During this period Mathews, along with fellow seniors Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal, had also been dropped from the limited-overs sides as Sri Lanka focused on a youthful overhaul of their white-ball squads.

By the time the contracts standoff was resolved, Mathews had already made his discontent clear and ruled himself out of selection, while there were even murmurs of a possible retirement. Since then, however, Chandimal has found himself back in Sri Lanka's limited-overs side - he has even made the cut for the upcoming T20 World Cup - while the year-long bans handed out to Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis for their biosecure bubble breach in Durham has left Sri Lanka's batting light on experience.

If Mathews does in fact return to the Sri Lanka fold, his first involvement will likely be a home Test series against West Indies in November, followed by the Lanka Premier League in December.