Vandort left out as Sri Lankan selectors back Arnold

Saadi Thawfeeq

November 27, 2001

Middle-order batsman Michael Vandort has been left out of Sri Lanka's 14-man squad for the third and final Test against West Indies as Sri Lankan selectors back Russel Arnold to return to form.

Vandort made his Test debut at the expense of Russel Arnold in the Asian Test championship match against Bangladesh at the SSC grounds in September scoring 36 and, was a member of the 15-man squad for the on-going Test series against West Indies at Galle and Kandy.

As is normally the practice when the team is playing in Colombo, the squad is pruned down to 14 and Vandort, who made 93 for CCC in last week's Premier Trophy match against Sebastianites, finds himself the unlucky one to be left out.

Barring injuries, Sri Lanka are likely to go into the final Test with the same eleven that won the second Test at Kandy by 131 runs to give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

This means that Arnold will retain his place as a number five batsman despite the paucity of his runs at this level, which has seen his Test average dip from a promising 40 to 27.37 in the last 20 Tests he's played.

The left-hander has been able to go past 50 only three times in his last 33 Test innings, which doesn't reflect the talent he possesses. Arnold himself must be worried about his own contribution with the bat to the team. His failures have not been largely significant because the other batsmen have been in the runs and given Sri Lanka match-winning totals.

Apart from his batting capabilities, Arnold is also an outstanding close-in fielder who has contributed much to the success of off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, latching on to the bat-pad catches.

The selectors left out Arnold for the Asian Test championship match against Bangladesh, but brought him back for the West Indies series where he has scored only 38 runs in three innings.

Despite the dearth of runs at Test level, we understand the selectors will persevere with him for the three-Tests against Zimbabwe as well, which should put Arnold's mind at ease and make him more relaxed to go out to the middle and score a century, which is long overdue.

Sri Lanka squad of 14 for SSC Test:

Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillakaratne, Tilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Nuwan Zoysa, Charitha Buddhika Fernando, Upul Chandana, Suresh Perera.

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