“I would not have done what Smith did,” says Mathews
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Sri Lanka selectors, coach and skipper inspecting the wicket - Pix by Amila Gamage
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that if it was him, he would have not deserted ship in the manner that the Australian skipper Steven Smith did. He was replying to a pre-match pres-con question fired at him. He said, “I think they have their own player management system but, if it was me I wouldn’t have had it because it is a tough tour. Obviously you need the captain along with the playing XI. They have decided to rest him and we as players, we have no issues with it. However regardless of Warner or Smith being the captain we have to play our best cricket.”
The Lankan captain described David Warner as an aggressive captain. He said, “David Warner is a bit of an aggressive captain. However at home or away you have to play your best cricket to beat the Australians.
So regardless of Warner or Smith we have played and will try to beat them in tomorrow’s game. Mathews said that they still have not decided on the playing Xl in tomorrow’s game. He said, “We are trying our best not to upset the winning combination and we will have a chat with the selectors in the morning and the final take”. The Lankan captain described the Dambulla wicket as a good one though it was dry, but, confessed that he too is not quite familiar with the conditions underfoot because he too played game last on this wicket way back in 2013. When asked if a genuine seamer would join the playing Xl the Lankan skipper replied, “Thisara Perera bowled well in both previous games and got the necessary breakthroughs. He bowled brilliantly and he is a total package.
He bowled well with the new-ball and did the same towards the backend of the game.” Speaking about Dilshan and his farewell Mathews said, “He has been an absolutely brilliant servant to the game of cricket for the past seventeen years. He has done an equally important service to that of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara. We are going to miss him a lot. Unfortunately he has decided to call it a day and we respect that decision. The whole team wishes him the very best for the future. Filling his boots anyway is going to be a tough ask. However in the recent past the youngsters have taken up a lot of responsibility and we hope that we could continue in the same vein.” - SRP