Veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews on Tuesday (December 8) admitted that his days of bowling in Test cricket are over, given the workload, saying “it’s very demanding when you play all three formats of the game” and his body can no longer bear the rigors of Test bowling.
The 33-year-old has been battered by injuries throughout his career, but despite this, the all-rounder has been played across all three formats of the game and even in T20 leagues around the world.
However, Matthews hasn't bowled in a Test since 2018 due to concerns about the physical toll from his workload, and now he sees himself as a specialist batsman in Sri Lanka’s Test team in the future.
Mathews told Reuters on Tuesday: “Unfortunately I haven’t bowled much in test matches, purely because of the workload. I’ll definitely keep bowling in the shorter formats as long as possible but to bowl in test matches, my workload would be extremely high and it’s very demanding when you play all three formats.”
The all-rounder had made his international debut for Sri Lanka in 2008 as a strapping seam-bowling all-rounder but unfortunately, the persistent leg injuries limited his abilities.
He noted, “Only thing I could have changed or I should have changed, was how I trained. But that’s all history, I’m glad that I’m feeling good right now and hope to continue in the same manner.”
Well, Mathews feels he can still contribute to Sri Lanka with his bowling in limited-overs cricket.
He signed off by saying, “I’ve started bowling in the last 18 months in the short format where obviously we play a lot of cricket. In shorter formats, I think my experience and bowling can help the team in a big way in terms of team balance and giving that extra option to the captain and the coach.”
(Reuters inputs)
