Sangakkara wants equal opportunity in Tests

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, has asked for teams to be given equal opportunity in Test cricket, saying the dwindling number of five-day matches Sri Lanka were playing was limiting their ambitions. Sangakkara welcomed the idea of a world Test championship and said teams should be given the chance of playing a minimum number of Tests in a year.

"It's great to have a Test championship but I believe that all sides should have an equal opportunity to play Test matches," Sangakkara told Reuters in Florida, where Sri Lanka are playing two Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand. "This year we are lucky that India wants to come and play Test matches but the opportunity for Sri Lankan players to fulfil their Test ambitions are getting more and more limited."

Since their tour of Australia in 2007, Sri Lanka have not played a Test series outside the subcontinent. They haven't been to South Africa for a Test tour since 2002 and the Tests in 2011 will be their first in England in five years.

"Sides must be given the opportunity to play a minimum number of Test matches and the Future Tours Programme must be reorganised so some of the best sides tour more than just once in five years," Sangakkara said. "There was once talk of playing a Test championship without Sri Lanka in the first year at a time when we were number two in the Test rankings. These are the inconsistencies they must address."

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka batsman, echoed his captain's views. "I think we need to think a bit more about Test cricket, you need to make sure all the teams are going to play eight to ten matches a year minimum, and then you can strike that balance," he said. "I have only played four Test matches in my entire career in Australia; that's in 12 years of playing."