Jayasuriya: We have to start from the bottom

Sri Lanka's new chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya says he and his selection panel need to start from the bottom if they hope for the national side to improve on the field.

A former captain of the national side, this is Jayasuriya's second stint as chief selector having been in the role from February 2013 to March 2015.

The former opening batsman says the responsibility is much bigger this time around than when he first got the job as Sri Lanka have lost a few senior players over last 18 months and results have declined.

Jayasuriya told BBC Sinhala: "I did everything 100% for Sri Lankan cricket. But if even a little was detracted from that work, then we would have had substantial setbacks because of that.

"Now what we have to do is start from the bottom. There is a bigger responsibility for me in this stint, than there was when I was first a selector."

Jayasuriya's first order of business was to select a squad for the upcoming tour to England, a task that was difficult when you see that the national side have only won one game, a T20I against India, against a Full-member side in the last year.

The former left-handed batsman says he will not be afraid to look at players that were dropped in the past.

He said: "First we need to look at which players had been chosen in the past. Sometimes you pick young players and then later, these players are dropped and fresh players are brought in.

"When fresh players are brought in, it takes them a while to succeed, and the players you had been investing in are ignored."

Sri Lanka will play three Tests, five ODIs and one T20I against England plus two ODIs against Ireland on their trip to the UK.

Latest