Sri Lanka cricket selectors left out experienced batsman Roshan Mahanama and recalled batsmen Chandika Hathurusingha and Russel Arnold and right-arm fast-medium bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara for next week's cricket tour of England.
Also included in the 18-member squad are two uncapped players, 28-year-old right-arm fast-medium bowler Mario Villavarayen and 18-year-old schoolboy wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene.
The rest of the squad comprise players who appeared in the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand and the on-going Singer-Akai Nidahas trophy triangular.
Mahanama (32), a veteran of 52 Tests and 193 one-day internationals was overlooked on poor form for the three-Test series against New Zealand which Sri Lanka won 2-1, but recalled for the one-day triangular. However, with 21-year-old Mahela Jayawardene proving himself at Test level in the number three position, Mahanama's Test place was in doubt.
Hathurusingha forced himself into recognition, with consistent performances in the local domestic competition, which carried his team Moors SC into the semi-finals of the division I Sara trophy and won him the 'Best Player of the tournament' award.
The selectors have included him in the hope that his right-arm medium-paced swing bowling would be useful in English conditions in addition to batting lower down the order.
Arnold, was unfortunate not to get a single important game on the tour to South Africa, and had the misfortune of breaking his hand in a Mercantile 'A' division game at home, which forced him to miss the New Zealand and Singer-Akai series. The 25-year-old left-hander has been knocking on the door for constant recognition which has not been coming his way.
With Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa side-lined by injury and Sajeeva de Silva, struggling to recapture his form after undergoing an alteration in his bowling action, Pushpakumara's place was never in doubt. He was left out for reasons best known to the selectors for the New Zealand and Singer-Akai series, and his place given to raw and inexperienced 20-year-old Suresh Perera, who has yet to prove himself at Test level.
Villavarayen finally gets rewarded for his perseverance. With Perera, he represents a breed of fast bowlers whom the selectors will keep a close eye on with next year's World Cup tournament in mind.
The selectors have left the option of recalling one (or two) of the fast bowlers later in the tour, if Vaas and Zoysa show improvement from their respective injuries. Both are expected to play in the home series against South Africa 'A' which runs concurrently with the England tour.
The selectors have been wise not to pick either of them without match fitness, an area they came for criticism after sending Zoysa as a replacement to South Africa.
Prasanna Jayawardene goes as understudy to Romesh Kaluwitharana. Hailing from the same school (St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa) as Kaluwitharana, Jayawardene is considered a future prospect having excelled behind the wickets in the Under 19 Youth World Cup tournament in South Africa early this year, where he won the 'Best Wicket-keeper's' award. He is the only schoolboy in the team whose average age is around 26 years.
Sri Lanka are due to leave for England on July 9 and play a one-off Test at the Oval, and participate in a triangular one-day tournament with England and South Africa in addition to playing several matches against first-class county sides.
SRI LANKA TEAM TO ENGLAND
Age Tests ODI
OPENING BATSMEN
S. T. Jayasuriya (Bloomfield) 29 37 159
M. S. Atapattu (SSC) 28 19 45
R. P. Arnold (NCC) 25 3 2
MIDDLE-ORDER BATSMEN
D. P. M. Jayewardene (SSC) 21 5 6
P. A. de Silva (NCC) (vc) 32 73 236
A. Ranatunga (SSC) (c) 34 81 239
H. P. Tillekeratne (NCC) 31 52 164
U. C. Hathurusingha (Moors SC) 29 24 32
ALL-ROUNDERS
H. D. P. K. Dharmasena (Bloomfield) 27 19 83
U. U. Chandana (Tamil Union) 26 - 34
FAST-MEDIUM BOWLERS
G. P. Wickremasinghe (SSC) 27 30 92
K. R. Pushpakumara (NCC) 22 18 29
S. A. Perera (SSC) 20 - 2
M. Villavarayen (Tamil Union) 28 - -
SPINNERS
M. Muralitharan (Tamil Union) 26 41 94
M.R.C.N. Bandaratilake (Tamil Union) 23 3 1
WICKET-KEEPERS
R. S. Kaluwitharana (Colts) 28 23 91
P. W. Jayawardene (St. Sebastian's) 18 - -
(Note: All figures correct till July 2)