Why Aravinda was denied contract

The main reason for not recommending the renewal of Aravinda De Silva's contract was the comparatively small number of Test Matches involving Sri Lanka this season, one of the members of the selection committee has revealed.

Sri Lanka's contracted players' names were published recently but Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup hero's name was not among them.

Sri Lanka will play only six Tests in the next six months and only the series against England has been confirmed until May next year but in that time there are many One-Day Internationals. Aravinda, the highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in both forms of the game, has not been a regular member of Sri Lanka's one-day squad since Sri Lanka's dismal performance in the 1999 World Cup in England.

Though he has not been contracted, Aravinda is among the pool of players training for the Indian tour. That means if he plays in any of the games, a payment will be made to him according to the number of his appearances.

It is believed that Aravinda's attitude has also counted against him. Last year when Aravinda was called to join the tour party in South Africa in place of the injured Upul Chandana halfway through the tour, he said he was not prepared to go due to lack of match practice. However, later he agreed to go and played in the last two ODIs and the the last Test in South Africa.

This season he has played in just four Premier League games for his club NCC, scoring 197 runs at an aveage of 39.40.