da dobrowin： Star batsman Aravinda de Silva has been given fresh hope of an internationalrecall after a meeting with Sri Lanka’s newly appointed selection committee
Charlie Austin12-Jan-2002Star batsman Aravinda de Silva has been given fresh hope of an internationalrecall after a meeting with Sri Lanka’s newly appointed selection committee.The four-man selection committee, appointed on Thursday by the SportsMinister and headed by former Ceylon captain Michael Tissera, made immediatecontact with De Silva.During the meeting the selectors made it clear that the 36-year-old would beconsidered for selection for Sri Lanka’s tour of England starting in Aprilproviding that he could prove his fitness to physio Alex Kontouri by 31March.De Silva, who fell out of shape and out favour after England’s tour of SriLanka in March, was also expected to display his commitment by participatingfully in the ongoing domestic cricket season for his club Nondescripts CC.The selectors believe that a fully fit De Silva, scorer of 5952 runs in his89 Test career, would be an asset to the squad during a difficult earlysummer tour.But the panel made it crystal clear that there would be no compromise on hisfitness level. If not sufficiently fit for a rigorous tour then he would beoverlooked.In the nine months since he last played, De Silva had refused to retire,maintaining that he still had a role to play in international cricket, butcomplaining of a breakdown in communication with the old selectioncommittee.That committee, headed by Tikiri Banda Khelgamuwa, had tired of De Silva andinstead recalled veteran left-hander Hashan Tillakaratne into the Test team,who justified their move with a mountain of runs.Were De Silva to tour then he may still struggle to claim a spot in thefinal eleven, with the top seven all scoring runs in recent series againstIndia, West Indies and Zimbabwe. On current form, Russel Arnold’s placewould be under the greatest threat.Sri Lanka are due to play three Test matches and a one-day tri-seriesincluding India during a two and a half month tour of England.