'Jayasuriya's selection is a disgrace'
Andy Bull, in his blog in the Guardian , says Sanath Jayasuriya's farewell games against England are an example of politics mixing with sport and his selection is unacceptable because he is an elected representative of a government that stands
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Andy Bull, in his blog in the Guardian, says Sanath Jayasuriya's farewell games against England are an example of politics mixing with sport and his selection is unacceptable because he is an elected representative of a government that stands accused of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
There is no convincing case to be made for recalling Jayasuriya. It has been two-and-a-half years since he scored a century in any kind of cricket, and the fact that he has said he will play only in the first of the five ODIs against England is testament in itself that he is not coming back because he has the interests of the team at heart.
But even if there was any cricketing logic to his inclusion, his selection would still be unacceptable. Jayasuriya is an elected representative of a government who, according to a United Nations report published this April, could be responsible for the deaths of 40,000 Tamil citizens during the final campaign of the civil war in late 2008 and early 2009.
On a different note, Mike Selvey, in the same newspaper, says England's selection for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka shows they have already started planning for the 2015 World Cup.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo