Jayasuriya unhappy with selection criticism

News

Cricket365
November 14, 2014

Sri Lanka's chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya is not impressed with the way his senior players, and former colleagues, have been criticising the decisions made by the board during the tour to India.

Jayasuriya, who used to play alongside Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, said he may have to ban said players from future meetings if they're going to discuss selection matters with the media.

Sangakkara had complained about being sent home in the middle of the India tour, saying he didn't want to leave just because they'd lost, and he also made suggestions about the batting line up. Mahela, meanwhile, said he wanted to open the batting.

Jayasuriya told the Daily Mirror: "By the way things are happening, we might even have to keep them out of the meetings where plans are discussed. This is setting a dangerous precedent.

"What they have told media are things that we had discussed at a meeting. They were just basic ideas only. Nothing was final. When they go and tell the media as if it were all their plans, it puts us in an embarrassing situation."

He added: "Those are decisions that the national selectors should take, not the players. If the players are going to do our job, what is the point of having selectors there at all?"

"I had a one to one chat with Sanga and he did not protest the decision at all. Selectors had already decided when they named the squad for the India tour to rest Sanga and Dhammika Prasad for the last two ODIs.

"Sanga keeps wickets and then needs to bat long. It is a tall order and with so many fixtures against England and New Zealand coming up, we need to manage the seniors carefully. It was a case of preserving him for the long schedule ahead rather than looking for a win at all expense."