A total of 84 players including schoolboys have been picked by the national selectors to play in the SLC Inter-Provincial fifty-over cricket tournament to be played in Dambulla and Pallekele from April 4-11.
This tournament will be used as the yardstick to pick the Sri Lanka squad of 15 for the ICC Cricket World Cup in England and also the Sri Lanka captain for the mega event.
The four players in line for the captaincy have been appointed to lead the four teams that will play in the provincial tournament, namely Dimuth Karunaratne who leads Kandy, Angelo Mathews (Dambulla), Lasith Malinga (Galle) and Dinesh Chandimal (Colombo). Each team consists of a squad of 21 players and will have reputed coaches handling the respective sides.
COLOMBO: Dinesh Chandimal (capt/wk), Avishka Fernando, Upul Tharanga (vc), Angelo Perera, Ashan Priyanjan, Kamindu Mendis, Seekkuge Prasanna, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Suranga Lakmal, Asitha Fernando, Chamikara Karunaratne, Chamara Silva, Mohamed Shiraz, Shehan Jayasuriya, Nipun Dananjaya, Kalana Perera, Tharindu Ratnayake, Nipun Ransika, Hashan Duminda, Hasitha Boyagoda, Coach – Avishka Gunawardene.
DAMBULLA: Angelo Mathews (capt), Niroshan Dickwella (vc/wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Oshada Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jeevan Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Lakshan Sandakan, Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Ishan Jayaratne, Sachitra Serasinghe, Ashen Bandara, Ramesh Mendis, Sonal Dinusha, Lahiru Gamage, Ramith Rambukwella, Shiran Fernando, Kaushal Silva, Lahiru Udara, Coach – Sumithra Warnakulasuriya.
KANDY: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pathum Nissanka, Priyamal Perera, Roshen Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera (vc), Jeffrey Vandersay, Malinda Pushpakumara, Kasun Rajitha, Nuwan Pradeep, Chaturanga de Silva, Sachitra Senanayake, Dilesh Gunaratne, Manoj Sarathchandra, Chaminda Wijesinghe, Dilruwan Perera, Kaveesha Anjula, Jehan Daniel, Rohan Sanjaya, Sangeeth Cooray, Coach – Piyal Wijetunge.
GALLE: Lasith Malinga (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vc), Sandun Weerakkody (wk), Kusal Mendis (wk), Mahela Udawatte, Minod Bhanuka (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Nishan Peiris, Chamika Edirisinghe, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Madushanka, Shammu Ashan, Shehan Madushanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kamil Mishra (wk), Nisala Tharaka, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando, Dhammika Prasad, Thikshila de Silva, Coach – Thilan Samaraweera