Karunaratne
Samarawickrama
DM de Silva
Mendis
Mathews
Chandimal (c) (wk)
ARS Silva
MDK Perera
Lakmal
Pradeep
Kumara
In my opinion, Gunathilaka and Dickwella do not have the temperament to be test batsmen and should not be included in the starting XI. I would almost be tempted to exclude Samarawickrama (DM de Silva as opener) to include Rajitha or Chameera and strengthen the bowling on the NZ green wickets I am sure they will produce.
Thoughts?
I would agree with your selection except I would use Samarawickrama as wicket keeper and leave Chandimal free to focus upon his on the field captaincy. If Gunathilaka was selected to open instead of Samarawickrama then Mendis and Chandimal could share the wicket keeping duties when fielding.
I think playing the extra batsman at number 7 is important since batting has been their weak spot in the last 2 series. Hopefully Matthews will be able to contribute as a 4th pace bowler and if necessary De Silva can support Perera as a second spinner.
I agree, Gunathilaka and Dickwella are too timid and will take the easily option of slog and get out to the moving ball. So I would agree with most of your suggestion except I don’t think Dilruwan is going to win us matches in NZ. I would rather gamble on a another seamer instead (with a bit of difference – leftie) so I would bring in rajitha plus NZ condition tends to help swing ballers. I would also be tempted to consider another change for the struggling Mendis and slot in Thirimanne instead but it might be a harder choice to make because Thirimanne is not exactly oozing confidence either. I think while we are not even close to a settled side, as a captain Chandimal should be prepared to take on more responsibility of taking the gloves so vacating a spot for an extra specialist to balance the side. I think bring in Dickwella just to keep would be the worst decision in my mind as he would be a walking wicket.
I think 4 pacers would be a solid option knowing it will be a green, swinging and seaming track. Dhananjaya can bowl some spin if required. As for the pace attack, Lakmal will lead with assistance from Rajitha, Kumara and probably Pradeep. I haven’t seen Chameera bowl recently but based on his figures from the warm up match, he didn’t seem so effective.
I can just see Thirimanne struggling against the red ball, opening against Bolt and Southee. I would have dropped Mendis ages ago but he seems to be coming in to some runs of late (of late being the last 3 innings) so I guess I would persist with him at 4.
Switching between the Aus v Ind Test in Perth and our match in NZ, what really stands out is the mediocrity of our fast bowlers. Forget speeds, our quicks can hardly string two balls in a row that is of decent line and length. And you cannot blame them as they hardly get a home game, and if even if they do, bowl only a handful of overs in an entire test. Moreover, even in our domestic cricket, favourable conditions for fast bowlers is a rarity, so there’s little room to develop into a world class quick.
@confused, yes – the Indian fast bowlers were really impressive and gave it back to the Aussies too. I bet our leading seamers would be able to explain what a good length is. Most of our players are not good students of the game or understand the technical side of the sport. Even if they played daily on green tracks, I won’t be surprised if they would still go for plenty if they have are not directed like school boys to land it in a certain area.