Sri Lanka's selectors budget for a prosperous tour

Sri Lanka's cricket selectors have followed in the footsteps of their government. Like the much-feared 2004 budget, the final 14-man tour party for New Zealand has surpassed expectations. After the incredible bungling in Pakistan, when Tillakaratne Dilshan was controversially dropped and the chairman of selectors, Ashantha de Mel, raged publicly at the captain Marvan Atapattu, you could have been forgiven for fearing the worst. But Sri Lanka depart with a strong and well-balance squad, and the rest of us can breathe easily again.

While this may not perhaps be a squad for the people, as the government claimed for its ambitious home-grown budget, it's certainly a captain's squad. The return of Dilshan and Russel Arnold, the handing-back of the gloves to Kumar Sangakkara for the Tests, the retention of Mahela Jayawardene as vice-captain and the presence of Murali in the dressing-room even though not fully fit ... it all suggests that Atapattu, who has grown in stature with each series, has been given the team he wants.

Atapattu was understandably angered by what transpired in Pakistan. His reputation was on the line, and he naturally wanted the best team against one of the most dangerous opponents in the world. He should have been properly consulted before such a major decision. This time, interestingly, the selectors choose the one-day and Test squads together, ruling out a repeat of the Pakistan tour when the team was picked in Colombo while Atapattu and the team management were in Lahore.

The return of Arnold is perhaps the most welcome news. Some people may argue that recalling a 31-year-old is a backward step, but he's still the clear front-runner when you look for a middle-order linchpin who can hold together your run-chase in the hurly-burly of a tight one-dayer. Sri Lanka need someone at No. 6 who can do that. The senior players, who greatly admire Arnold's unselfish qualities, have wanted him back ever since he was axed in August. The top order will now have greater confidence in the middle.

The return of the gloves to Sangakkara in both forms of the game will spark much greater debate. The success of the selectors' decision for him to be a specialist batsman in Test cricket is statistically proven: he averages 68.15 as a specialist batter and 41.57 as a batsman-keeper. It appears that the reduced workload has allowed him to focus more and score more heavily. But is the reality so clear-cut? It might just be a coincidence that the gloves were removed at a time when he was blossoming.

Sangakkara is happy doing whatever job he's asked to fill, although he admits that doing both can be exhausting. But it's also a challenge he clearly relishes. A gladiatorial cricketer, he looks out of sorts picking daisies in the outfield. He enjoys the heat of battle, and deep down would prefer to be behind the stumps offering helpful hints to the opposition batsmen. By doing so he immediately opens up options for the team, as Adam Gilchrist does for Australia. In the early days there might have been a cost for that balance, as Sangakkara fumbled the odd catch or stumping, but his glovework has improved so much that he's now rated No. 1 in the island.

The selectors are right to turn back to Sangakkara in Test cricket. Prasanna Jayawardene's glovework is as pretty as his batting technique is limited. But they might still consider reducing his burden by shuffling the batting order and promoting Jayawardene to No. 3, even though Sangakkara would prefer to stay where he is. The more radical way of reducing the workload would by using Dilshan - a very talented keeper - behind the stumps should Sangakkara need to rest.

The batting order for one-day games is a more serious issue. The experiment with second-class openers in one-dayers must be halted, to allow Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya to re-form one of the most successful opening partnerships in the game. Partnering Jayasuriya with a run-of-the-mill opener wastes valuable time against a hard ball with the fielding restrictions in, and also pushes Jayawardene, a key matchwinner if given time at the crease, too deep into the order, undermining his productivity.

The selectors can also be applauded for resisting political pressure to hand over the vice-captaincy to Chaminda Vaas. There had even been whispers that Jayawardene's place in the one-day team was in jeopardy. The local Daily Mirror recently described his performances as "erratic", while another journalist said that New Zealand was his "last chance". Such talk is frankly ridiculous, and probably sinister in origin. Anyone who bothered to look at this "erratic" form would see that he's actually had a bumper year - he has averaged 51.94 in Test cricket and a useful 33.70 in ODIs, both of which are higher than his career average. Jayawardene could be forgiven for feeling a little perplexed.

Vaas would probably make a very good vice-captain, being popular, bubbly, honest and shrewd. He's also been a fine servant for Sri Lanka cricket and deserves some recognition. But he's not going to be the next captain of Sri Lanka when Atapattu stands down, probably after the 2007 World Cup, so it makes more sense for Jayawardene, the likely heir to the throne, to be groomed properly. In any case, Jayawardene has done nothing to warrant a demotion, unless winning matches is somehow frowned upon.

The recall of Dilshan will stir up little debate. After a year in which he'd scored Test centuries against England and Australia - the two most successful teams in 2004 - he did not deserve to be dropped, even if his contributions were modest against South Africa in the last series. His axing left Jehan Mubarak in a deeply uncomfortable position, and Atapattu with a weakened middle order, a reality he must have been fuming about on that tense final day at Karachi when Pakistan squared the series. The selectors probably know now that they blundered, although they are unlikely to admit as much publicly. But at least the differences between Atapattu and de Mel have been patched up after a couple of face-to-face meetings. Clearly, Atapattu's considerations are now rightly being given greater weight.

Sri Lanka team for New Zealand tour
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Russel Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Mahela Jayawardene (vice-capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekera, Muttiah Muralitharan. For Tests only: Ian Daniel, Thilan Samaraweera, Lasith Malinga.