Angelo Mathews to lead SL under-19 in England

Angelo Mathews, the Josephian all-rounder, will lead Sri Lanka under-19 on their tour of England starting next month. Sameera Soysa of Maliyadeva, Kurunegala has been appointed vice-captain.

Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, said that the criteria for selection was that the 32 players from which the final squad was selected comprised candidates who were eligible to play in the 2006 under-19 World Cup in February-March, which will be hosted by Sri Lanka.

"This was a prior arrangement made with our English counterparts who will also follow the same criteria on selection," said Kaluperuma.

Initially 60 players went through an elimination process where former Sri Lanka cricketers Norton Fredrick and Muttiah Devaraj had the task of reducing the pool to about 31 players. They were joined by an ongoing under-17 pool of a further 31 players making it 62.

The national selectors took over from there onwards and after a series of trial matches which included 3-day, 2-day and one-day games, the pool was finally reduced to 32.

Kaluperuma said this pool would continue to function until the under-19 World Cup and that during the school cricket season further additions would be made to it if required.

Kaluperuma was optimistic that the squad picked for England would produce future Sri Lanka cricketers. "I was very much impressed with the middle order batting and the fast bowling department," said Kaluperuma.

The middle-order batting comprises Sameera Soysa, Dimithri Siriwardena, Sachitra Serasinghe, Dilhan Cooray, Prabudha Perera and Lahiru Peiris. The three genuine fast bowlers Charles Fernando, Chathupama Gunasingha and Nuwan Liyanapathirana will be supported by two fast bowling all-rounders Mathews and Shalika Karunanayake.

The spin department is handled by Serasinghe (off-breaks) and Sajith Pathirana (left-arm spin).

The team is scheduled to leave for England on July 15 and play a series of two 4-day tests and three one-day matches against England under-19, in addition to two 3-day side games.

Sumithra Warnakulasuriya will accompany the team as coach and Ashley de Silva as manager.

Team: Angelo Mathews, captain (St.Joseph's, Colombo), Sameera Soysa, vice-captain (Maliyadeva, Kurunegala), Dimithri Siriwardena (Royal), Suchitra Serasingha (Nalanda), Dilhan Cooray (St. Sebastian's, Moratuwa), Prabudha Perera (St. Peter's), Ashan Peiris (S. Thomas', ML), Chathura Herath (Ananda), Lahiru Peiris (St. Peter's), Shalika Karunanayake (Maliyadeva, Kurunegala), Charles Fernando (St. Sebastian's, Moratuwa), Chathupama Gunasingha (Richmond, Galle), Nuwan Liyanapathirana (Wijeya, Matale), Sajith Pathirana (Trinity, Kandy).

Standbys: S.M.A. Priyangana (Nalanda), Madheva Warnapura (Nalanda), Jehan Fernando (St. Sebastian's, Moratuwa), Rajeeva Weerasinghe (St. Joseph's, Colombo), Malinga Pushpakumara (Lumbini), Andy Solomons (St. Thomas', Kotte), Dimuth Karunaratne (St. Joseph's, Colombo).