Sri Lanka cricket legend and head of its technical advisory committee Aravinda de Silva has expressed his sadness at the turn of events surrounding Mathews, saying if Angelo Mathews had decided to quit, it’s not the ideal way for him to bid adieu to international cricket.
Aravinda de Silva slams Angelo Mathews
“It is a pity if he has decided to quit at this stage,” De Silva was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
“I see him as a guy who contributed a lot to Sri Lanka cricket. Any senior players, I would not like to see him leave in this sort of manner.”
De Silva advises the players to get over ‘trivial matters’ like contract negotiations and instead focus on their cricket future.
“These are trivial matters when it comes to issues with cricket boards and contracts and things like that. It is time for them to put aside all those and look at their future,” he said.
He continued, “If this opportunity was given to me, I would have taken it and accepted it with both hands and gone out there and done what I knew best.”
Sri Lankan team recently toured England for ODI and T20I series and returned home without winning a single match. Their poor show has resulted in criticism but de Silva reckons that all they need to do is get the balance and combination right.
“They (Sri Lanka) need to get the balance and combination sorted out in the national team as soon as possible. Cricket, for that matter, any sport, is all to do with confidence,” De Silva said.
“As soon as you start doing well, and build that confidence, things can change. Any team that walks into that World Cup with booming confidence will do well. It is a case of bringing that habit of winning and building that confidence going into the World Cup,” he added.
The Sri Lankan cricket team is perhaps going through one of its toughest phases – both on and off the field. The results aren’t coming and the relations between players and Sri Lanka Cricket are also tensed due to the contractual situation with few unhappy with the new terms.
