Lankans may be felled by an Eranga bouncer
View(s):By S.R. Pathiravithana
Come Tuesday Lankan cricket may face another drawback prior to the first One-day International at Tent Bridge as medium pacer Shaminda Eranga who was reported for suspect action after the second Test against England in Chester-le-Street, being sidelined.
The umpires for that game were Aleem Dar and S Ravi, with Andy Pycroft as match referee. Eranga had played eighteen previous Test matches prior to that incident and played another following that.
He also played in the first of the two ODIs against Ireland where he failed to impress.
However if Eranga is sidelined it would definitely be a big blow to the Lankan camp as already other fast bowlers – Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera are already in the injured list.
Commenting on Eranga SLC secretary Mohan de Silva said “He has to have his bowling action analyzed before the 20th of June and it will be done at the Loughborough University laboratory in the United Kingdom.
“If the bowler is found to be over the accepted 15% level he will be sidelined and we may have to call a replacement.” Medium pacer Nuwan Kulasekera will be the most likely replacement.
Loughborough is accredited as an ICC centre for suspected illegal bowling action analysis. Dr King and Professor Yeadon are the experts on the subject.
Sri Lanka ODI and T-20 series:
June — 21 — 1st ODI, Trent Bridge (d/n) – 6.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time
June – 24 — 2nd ODI, Edgbaston (d/n) – 6.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time
June — 26 –3rd ODI, Bristol – 3.30 p.m. Sri Lanka Time
June — 29 — 4th ODI, The Oval (d/n) – 6 p.m. Sri Lanka time
July — 2 — 5th ODI, Cardiff – 3.30 p.m. Sri Lanka Time
July 5 — Twenty20 international, Southampton (d/n) 11 p.m. Sri Lanka time
Under a new “Super Series” points system for England v Sri Lanka, four points are awarded for a Test win (with two for a draw or tie), with two for a limited-overs win (one for a tie or no result).