***Official**** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014/2015

[Maximas]

Who were the two SL A openers biffing Matt Henry in the LO part of the A series 18 months ago?

One of them a Perrera of some sort? Kusal?

Yeah Kusal, but he had a horror run this year in ODIs and we won't go back there for a while

Thirimanne is only worth bowling if we have 3 bowlers off the field or something - like that MCG match in 2012 when he got Mike Hussey out and we went on to defend 240 odd.

Thisara looks awful atm but he's a real matchwinner when he's on, one of the finest hitters going around, has done the business in Australia before and his bowling will benefit from a bit more pace and bounce too. Vithanage, Chatarunga de Silva and Priyanjan have all been tried in that floating no 7 role and none of them put a decent case forward. Very slim pickings indeed, Tharanga is the other option, and in fact he'd have been a much better pick than Dimuth for the original squad given he's at least had some measure of success down the order

 

[Maximas]

I know he's a bit ordinary with the bat/field, and the conditions don't suit him, but it's a little surprising Ajantha Mendis isn't even in the squad as well.

Given we're playing in Oceania and both Senanayake and Herath are ahead of him in the ODI pecking order as specialist spinners it would make no sense to use a squad spot on him, even before you consider his lack of utility, not to mention Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis are around too

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Pardon me boys but who is Chatarunga de Silva? Averages 29? Gives the ball a good shine?

 

[viriya]

Given we're playing in Oceania and both Senanayake and Herath are ahead of him in the ODI pecking order as specialist spinners it would make no sense to use a squad spot on him, even before you consider his lack of utility, not to mention Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis are around too

That argument would be fine if Sena wasn't going for 7+/over lately as well.. At least Ajantha got wickets. I knew this was gonna happen but "Ajantha will suck in Aus" I guess.

 

[cnerd123]

Sena has been bowling well no? He looked pretty good the little I saw of him.

 

[Mike5181]

Given we're playing in Oceania and both Senanayake and Herath are ahead of him in the ODI pecking order as specialist spinners it would make no sense to use a squad spot on him, even before you consider his lack of utility, not to mention Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis are around too

Jeevan Mendis is an average cricketer who has failed in basically every game he's had in Oceania (averages 12 with the bat, and 95 with the ball after 12 games), so his presence doesn't strengthen you case here at all. If we agree that Herath and Senanayake are both first XI players, what happens if there's an injury? Surely the guy with 150 odd ODI wickets @ 21 would be a useful replacement. He's not even a proven failure over here, it's an assumption. I don't think he'd be nearly as effective in Oceania either, but it's madness not to give him a few games over here before putting him down as a write-off.

 

[hendrix]

Senanayake has bowled well, tbh.

He's bowled when there's been no pressure on the batsman and NZ have played him pretty well. He'll be a much different prospect with Malinga back.

 

[Maximas]

That argument would be fine if Sena wasn't going for 7+/over lately as well.. At least Ajantha got wickets.

should have seen this coming - your stats don't mean nothin to me boi

Jeevan Mendis is an average cricketer who has failed in basically every game he's had in Oceania (averages 12 with the bat, and 95 with the ball after 12 games), so his presence doesn't strengthen you case here at all. If we agree that Herath and Senanayake are both first XI players, what happens if there's an injury? Surely the guy with 150 odd ODI wickets @ 21 would be a useful replacement. He's not even a proven failure over here, it's an assumption. I don't think he'd be nearly as effective in Oceania either, but it's madness not to give him a few games over here before putting him down as a write-off.

I don't agree with the Jeevan selection for reasons you mentioned but he is the only genuine spin bowling all-rounder in the squad and it's erroneous to suggest that Ajantha was competing with him for a spot in the team given two specialist spinners (what Ajantha is) are already in the sqaud. Herath and Senanayake are world class, why on earth would it be madness to suggest Ajantha ought not to be getting a game, you're veering dangerously into viriya territory there with the stats talk too. If a specialist spinner in the squad is injured a replacement will be flown in - probably Ajantha, if Jeevan Mendis is injured he'll most likely be replaced by another spin bowling all-rounder, Seekkuge Prasanna.

 

[YorksLanka]

Jeevan Mendis is an average cricketer who has failed in basically every game he's had in Oceania (averages 12 with the bat, and 95 with the ball after 12 games), so his presence doesn't strengthen you case here at all. If we agree that Herath and Senanayake are both first XI players, what happens if there's an injury? Surely the guy with 150 odd ODI wickets @ 21 would be a useful replacement. He's not even a proven failure over here, it's an assumption. I don't think he'd be nearly as effective in Oceania either, but it's madness not to give him a few games over here before putting him down as a write-off.

Nah, jeevan is miles ahead of Ajantha as a complete cricketer, the latter can't bat and can't field and while I agree, jeevan hasn't done well in this series, he is an easy choice over Ajantha, the other factor to bear in mind is the pace of ajantha's bowling which would make him essentially a slow medium bowler on Australian / NZ wickets which IMO would make him cannon fodder..

 

[Zinzan]

Senanayake has bowled well, tbh.

He's bowled when there's been no pressure on the batsman and NZ have played him pretty well. He'll be a much different prospect with Malinga back.

I shouldn't be so cynical as to think that we'll win this series 5-1, feel good about most things & then Malinga will come in & do a job on us in that first WC game.

But those wounds are deep.

 

[YorksLanka]

I shouldn't be so cynical as to think that we'll win this series 5-1, feel good about most things & then Malinga will come in & do a job on us in that first WC game.

But those wounds are deep.

Nah tbh, I don't think malinga will be fit for the WC, he may start but I reckon he will break down..don't worry , NZ will win this WC , you heard it here first...I reckon if we make it to the semis, we will have done well..

 

[Maximas]

So long as he gets enough rest beforehand Malinga will be fine

It's whether he'll do any good or not that worries me

 

[viriya]

Nah, jeevan is miles ahead of Ajantha as a complete cricketer, the latter can't bat and can't field and while I agree, jeevan hasn't done well in this series, he is an easy choice over Ajantha, the other factor to bear in mind is the pace of ajantha's bowling which would make him essentially a slow medium bowler on Australian / NZ wickets which IMO would make him cannon fodder..

I don't understand how everyone just ****s on Ajantha based on just 2 average games he had in Aus in 2013 and a supposed "he'd be medium pace with no spin".. FFS he got the most wickets in ODI cricket last year (with an econ better than the supposed savior Malinga), and he can't even make the damn squad?? Jeevan Mendis will get torn apart wherever he bowls, he almost never gives any control, and since Thisara is going to be in the team he should not be in the side.

You might consider me a stats only guy but seriously I watched all the SL matches last year and it's not like he just gets freebie wickets when it doesn't matter - he actually outfoxed most of those batsmen. Senanayake has bowled ok, but he doesn't have the same wicket-taking potential since he changed his action.

SL should've taken a risk and gone with 3 spinners imo, with Malinga + Kula + Angelo + Thisara + Dilshan to finish off the other overs. Part-timers will have trouble controlling the scoring rate considering the fielding restrictions, and the less they bowl Thisara the better.

 

[YorksLanka]

the thing is, i am not saying he isnt a good bowler at home, just that these wickets dont suit his style of bowling..I also think that good odi teams generally have players who are good/capable in all three disciplines and Ajantha just isnt good at fielding or batting..

 

[Binkley]

I shouldn't be so cynical as to think that we'll win this series 5-1, feel good about most things & then Malinga will come in & do a job on us in that first WC game.

But those wounds are deep.

The same concern has been worrying me. I put it down to years of having hopes dashed. There is probably a really good PhD thesis in there for some young psych whizz. I can see the paper now: "Does years of watching the New Zealand cricket team have an impact on mental health, and in particular, do followers retain some sense of pessimism even when, by all objective measures, their team is performing exceptionally well".

 

[viriya]

The same concern has been worrying me. I put it down to years of having hopes dashed. There is probably a really good PhD thesis in there for some young psych whizz. I can see the paper now: "Does years of watching the New Zealand cricket team have an impact on mental health, and in particular, do followers retain some sense of pessimism even when, by all objective measures, their team is performing exceptionally well".

I think for once, SL is the underdog. As a NZ fan myself, I would be disappointed if they don't make at least the semis this time.. they should make the finals imo.

 

[hendrix]

I think for once, SL is the underdog. As a NZ fan myself, I would be disappointed if they don't make at least the semis this time.. they should make the finals imo.

yeah going into the tournament we're certainly amongst the top 4 favourites. Top 2 for me, really.

 

[Jimbo the giant]

Malinga at the moment looks like a Ranatunga clone. I don't think he'll have enough bowling behind him to be effective in the opener. I will be far more worried if we some how end up facing him in another semi.

 

[Maximas]

I don't understand how everyone just ****s on Ajantha based on just 2 average games he had in Aus in 2013 and a supposed "he'd be medium pace with no spin"

It's based over watching his entire career where the statement about medium pace without spin holds true even in the SC much of the time

 

[hendrix]

It's based over watching his entire career where the statement about medium pace without spin holds true even in the SC much of the time

That type of bowling can be effective in NZ though. Noone's calling for him to play tests or anything.