Jayasuriya left out of West Indies ODIs

Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan have been left out of Sri Lanka's 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI series in the West Indies.

The 37-year-old Jayasuriya retired from Tests last December, and wished to concentrate on his ODI career. However, he hasn't had a great run since the World Cup, with only 305 runs in 20 innings, and there was speculation that he would be dropped from the side, especially after his poor performance in the CB Series, where Sri Lanka finished third behind India and Australia.

Murali, the leading Test wicket-taker, also didn't have a great time in Australia, but it is believed that he will be feature only in key ODI tournaments from now on. Murali will play in the two Tests preceding the ODI series in which he will be replaced by offspinner Ajantha Mendis, who with 54 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in the Premier League Tournament, Sri Lanka's domestic first-class competition. Mahela Udawatte23-year old hard-hitting opener, replaces Jayasuriya. Udawatte has been touted as a successor to Jayasuriya.

"He [Jayasuriya] did not perform well in Australia,"

Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka's chief selector, told AFP.

"We have three years to groom a team for the 2011 World Cup and younger players must be given a chance."

Sri Lanka will also be without Lasith Malinga, out with a knee injury, for both the Tests and ODIs in West Indies. Allrounder Kaushalya Weeraratne makes a comeback to the Sri Lankan side. His last ODI was in 2003. Uncapped left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara, who was picked for the Tests, also finds a place in the ODI squad.

Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara and Ishara Amerasinghe are the other fast bowlers in the squad, while Malinga Bandara is the other spinner alongside Mendis. Besides Weeraratne, Chamara Kapugedera and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the other all-round options available to captain Mahela Jayawardene.

Sri Lanka ODI squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Malinga Bandara, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Jehan Mubarak, Ishara Amerasinghe, Mahela Udawatte, Thilan Thushara.

Sri Lankan allrounder Maharoof out of West Indies tour

Farveez Maharoof, the Sri Lankan allrounder, has been ruled out of the West Indies tour with a side strain.

Maharoof, 23, suffered the injury during the recently-concluded CB Series in Australia, but was named in the 15-member Test squad for the two matches against West Indies starting later this month.

Selection committee sources stated that Maharoof had failed to recover sufficiently from the injury and would miss the tour. A replacement for Maharoof is expected to be named shortly.

Left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara is the likely choice. Welagedara toured Australia for the CB Series but did not play a single match due to a technical problem with his follow-through, where he was warned for running on the pitch.

On his return home Welagedara worked on his flaw with the Sri Lanka Cricket fast-bowling coaches and had rectified it satisfying the selectors to consider him as a replacement for the injured Maharoof.

Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka's captain has already said that his team would have to play some smart cricket to achieve a first win in the Caribbean.

"The West Indies may not be all that strong but they have some decent cricketers,"

he said.

"If we don't play to our potential we are not going to do well. The two Tests provide us with a great opportunity to win in the West Indies."

The first Test will take place in Guyana from March 22 to 26 and the second in Trinidad from April 3 to 7. Jayawardene felt the new Guyana surface, where Sri Lanka played a couple of one-day games during the 2007 World Cup, would suit spin although it was on the slow side.

"Trinidad is a venue where they usually have a little bit of pace and bounce and a bit of movement. We played there one year ago but we don't know how the wickets been behaving right now. I reckon Guyana will be more suitable for spin,"

he said.

Jayawardene admitted that the absence of Sanath Jayasuriya's left-arm spin had in a way contributed to the inclusion of a similar spinner, Rangana Herath, ahead of legspinner Malinga Bandara.

"The selectors as well as a lot of people have been saying that Rangana is bowling at domestic level and that he is a better bowler for the longer version and that he will be a very good support bowler for Murali,"

he said.

"The selectors were of the opinion that Rangana would be a good choice if it comes to playing two spinners. We went with that direction.

"Malinga has been with us for quite some time, he has toured a lot and played a lot of cricket. Unfortunately Malinga hasn't had the opportunity to play Test cricket because of [Muttiah] Muralitharan and the combinations that we went with but on and off he's had his opportunities. He's still part of the game. The World Cup is in the subcontinent and we might play two spinners."