Wednesdays news that Lasith Malinga had been left out of the 16 man test squad selected to tour England came as a surprise to me, I was then even more surprised to hear that this was due to him making himself unavailable due to injury, while currently playing in the IPL.
Then the plot thickened as it emerged that he has been asked to go back to Sri Lanka to undergo a rehab programme, it was then becoming obvious that all parties where not happy with the current situation.
But the most amazing news of all for me, was yet to come, I couldn’t believe it when I read that Lasith Malinga has only played two tests since 2007.
I have to admit to not being the closest of followers of the internal politics of Sri Lankan cricket, so am putting my faith in the hands of the person who wrote this article as to the accuracy of it, but if this is true, then how has this been allowed to happened?
Just who has taken this decision, the selectors, or Malinga himself?
It’s clear just how important Malinga is to the limited overs teams and maybe at times the selectors have saved him to make sure he is fit for tournaments, but 2 tests in 3 years, surely he could have played more than that.
This kind of thing doesn’t look great, it is a bad sign for the future of test cricket – the supposed pinnacle. Whether this be because players (mainly bowlers) can’t handle the intensity of test cricket, or because players now show preference to ODI’s for the money, I don’t know, but either way it’s not good for test match cricket.
I suppose it is possible to be fit enough to play in T20’s, but not 5 day test matches. But the ‘2 tests since 2007,’ stat, tells a different story. Clearly now, someone in the Sri Lankan hierarchy has had enough.
