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Through their exploits in England, Dhananjaya de Silva hopes that his Sri Lankan teammates will be given more opportunities to play county cricket, which he feels will be especially helpful for their hitters.
Since 2021, counties have been permitted to have two foreign players in their starting lineup for each format. A number of players with little to no international experience have been able to sign deals because to the easing of visa requirements, but Sri Lanka’s team has mainly been passed by, partly due to their tour schedule.
Vishwa Fernando, who played two games for Durham at the close of the previous season, is the only one of the eighteen-man travelling party to play in the Championship this year. Asitha Fernando (two games for Nottinghamshire) and Dimuth Karunaratne (three games for Yorkshire) have also appeared in prior editions.
Dinesh Chandimal revealed in Manchester that he has been trying to secure a county contract without success. “The last few years, I wanted to get a county deal,” Chandimal, who has scored 15 Test hundreds, said. “I didn’t get it so far. If I can do well in this series, hopefully I will be picked by one of the counties. It is my dream to play a season of county cricket.”
Prior to the second Test at Lord’s on Thursday, Dhananjaya expressed his own desire to participate in the Championship.
After the Champions Trophy, Sri Lanka will have three months off from international competition, which might allow their Test players to compete in the county season’s early going. Not included in their Test team, Wanindu Hasaranga has twice signed with Manchester Originals in the Hundred, but SLC has refused to provide him a No-Objection Certificate.
“Playing in these conditions will be better for the batsmen,” he said. “We are only getting the chance while we’re touring here. But if the batsmen can play county [cricket], it’ll be nice for them.”
In addition to making two changes—Pathum Nissanka, who has excelled in ODIs this year, and Lahiru Kumara in place of Kusal Mendis and Vishwa Fernando—Dhananjaya stated that Sri Lanka had prepared well for the second Test. “Overall, Pathum is the best batter in the country at the moment,” Dhananjaya stated. “He has a good mindset and he has a good technique.”
He also played down the absence of Mark Wood, suggesting that Chris Woakes had been harder to face. “The speed is not troubling me, but the line and length,” Dhananjaya said. “The opening bowler, he bowls in one area for 20 to 30 balls and that’s the problem we have: with the swinging ball, not the pace… if the plans work here, we’ll get on top.”