CWC 2019: Mahela Jayawardene hopes SLC's Provincial tournament will have no huge impact on the World Cup selection process

Jayawardene blames politics and poor selection for Sri Lankan cricket's downfall.

Mahela Jayawardene slammed SL selection processes | Getty Images

Former Sri Lanka captain and legend Mahela Jayawardene has blamed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), selection processes and politics inside the board for Sri Lanka’s continues downfall over the past few years.

Jayawardene, Lanka batting great, further went on to take a dig at the Board for organizing a Provincial one-day tournament to pick squad for the upcoming 2019 ICC Cricket World, as the players would be considered for the selection on the basis of their show in the tournament, saying they should have made combinations at least 12 months ahead of the showpiece event.

While saying that shows SLC’s inconsistency in their approach, Jayawardene hopes the upcoming One Day tournament would not make a huge impact on the selection process.

Jayawardene said on Friday, 5th April, “What’s happening, you should ask the board, the politics, selection processes… It’s a combination of everything. Usually, you plan for the World Cup a year ahead, you know what your combinations are at least 12 months ahead.”

The 1996 World Cup winners will head into the World Cup 2019 with lackluster performances against England, New Zealand and, more recently, a 5-0 loss to South Africa at home, and the former captain feels that result would not be certainly good for the players’ moral in England and Wales.

He added, “We have probably won only a handful of matches in the last 12 months in Sri Lanka and away from home. That doesn’t give confidence to anybody. There hasn’t been a consistent selection process saying, ‘this is what we want from you’. We have had eight different opening partners. The top four guys are going to be very crucial in English conditions. I feel they need to find a solution for that.”

On ODI tournament before World Cup 2019, the 41-year-old said, “All of a sudden, they say, they are having a Provincial tournament this week to finalize the World Cup squad. That shows the bit of inconsistency in their approach. There are some good players who have experiences of playing the World Cup before and who have made it to the finals and performed, so Sri Lanka turns up for World Cup, thinking that they can be there. I am hoping that mental preparation is there.”

Jayawardene signed off by saying, “Hopefully, this domestic tournament is not going to make a huge impact on the selection process. They need to back the guys who have done the job in the past and try and form a team with youth and experience, who will go out and express themselves. That’s a way forward and I hope common sense will prevail.”

(With Sportstar Inputs)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 05 Apr, 2019

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