Muralitharan expected to be fit for Galle

It is entirely unsurprising that the fitness of Muttiah Muralitharan will dominate the minds of both England and Sri Lanka as they limber up for the First Test Match in Galle in eight days time.

Sri Lanka returned home under the cover of darkness last night ruing their decision to play Muralitharan in a spurious one-day international in New Zealand. Having just recovered from a groin injury in South Africa, he suffered a similar injury in the field, this time in the opposite leg.

With hindsight the Sri Lankan management regret the decision. Muralitharan however was keen to play, as he always is, and the team wanted to complete a five-nil clean sweep.

Although Alex Kontouri, the team physiotherapist, assured the Chairman of Selectors, Tikiri Banda Kehelgamuwa, two days ago that Sri Lanka's only match winning bowler would be fit for Galle, there had been rumours since that he would miss the entire series.

After a short sleep however Muralitharan was back on the physiotherapists bench today and Dav Whatmore believes that his premier bowler will be ready for the start of the series.

He said, "Murali sustained the injury when he was running straight, not when he was turning like was the case in South Africa. This not a recurrence of that groin injury, it is in the opposite leg and we are confident that he will be fit to face England in Galle."

Nevertheless the Sri Lankan selectors have been forced to contemplate the uncomfortable prospect of life without Muralitharan during the England series. There is little to choose between Sri Lanka's second-string spinners. There is plenty of talent, but no one's head rises above the pack.

Upul Chandana, the first choice leg spinner who toured to South Africa, is unfit and Dinuk Hettiarchchi, in spite of claiming five wickets in the England second innings at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, failed to impress the selectors. They have opted instead for Niroshan Bandaratilleke for England's final practice game in Matara. Should he perform then he will make the starting line-up for Galle.

The slow left armer is no novice. He has taken 19 Test wickets in four matches, including a match winning effort in Galle against New Zealand in 1997/8. But he fell out of favour with the national selectors for disciplinary reasons during Sri Lanka's tour of England in 1998.

If Muralitharan is unavailable then Sri Lanka will consider the leg spin of Kaushalya Loukuarachchi and Malinga Bandara, who has played one Test Match, but will most likely plump for either the off spin of Kumar Dharmasena or Thilan Samaraweera, who impressed both the selectors and the England team at P.Saravanamuttu Stadium.

England meanwhile are expected to rest Darren Gough and Craig White against the board President's XI in Matara. This will give Matthew Hoggard an opportunity for valuable match practice. Marcus Trescothick will come back into the team.

The most pressing dilemma facing Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher at the moment is still the choice between Michael Vaughan and Graeme Hick. They may have toyed with the idea of dropping Andrew Caddick to accommodate both, but will be aware that Shaun Pollock, Abdur Razzaq, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis all picked up valuable wickets in Galle last year.

Michael Vaughan is a young man with a cool head. What is more he returned bowling figures of 6.4-3-11-4 in England's last practice game and this will add weight to his case. However, Graeme Hick is the most assured player of spin and is the only player in the squad to have scored a century against Muralitharan.

Sri Lanka meanwhile are contemplating the high-risk strategy of giving the gloves to either Kumar Sangakkara or Tillakaratne Dilshan in the First Test Match, both of whom are part-time wicket keepers. Dilshan is expected to keep wicket tomorrow. By eschewing a top class keeper the Sri Lanka would be able to play seven batsmen and thus include both Aravinda de Silva and Dilshan. The four remaining bowlers would be complemented by the spin of Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold and Aravinda de Silva.

The Sri Lankan players have been given three days off after the morale boosting tour of New Zealand. They will train on the weekend in Colombo and then travel south to Galle on Monday after the selectors select their final squad on Sunday night.