Jayawardene being groomed as long-term Sri Lankan captain

Mahela Jayawardene is being groomed as Sri Lanka's long-term captain, according to Lalith Kaluperuma, Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors.

Jayawardene was appointed for a second stint as vice-captain on Wednesday night, and Kaluperuma believes he is the ideal man to lead Sri Lanka during the 2007 World Cup.

"We are looking at Mahela [Jayawardene] as a long-term captain, but he has to establish himself first," said Kaluperuma. "It is a bit too premature to say it now, but we are looking at Mahela leading Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup. It all depends on how he handles himself as deputy to Marvan [Atapattu]."

Jayawardene was appointed Sri Lankan vice-captain in 1999, but was later replaced by Atapattu after a slump in his batting form. His form also plummeted during the recent World Cup, during which he scored just 21 runs in seven innings, and he was dropped from the side for last month's Sharjah Cup.

However, having re-discovered his touch during a practice match at the start of the New Zealand tour, he was recalled to the one-day side for the forthcoming triangular series that starts on Saturday. The others considered for the vice-captaincy included Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.

"I just want to give my fullest support to Marvan and will try to gear up the guys," said Jayawardene. "When they asked me to do the job in 1999 I told them it was not the time for me, but they asked me to do a temporary job until things settled down. I don't think the job will affect my batting ... I will not be thinking about anything apart from my batting when I go out to the middle."