Ford concerned about Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling depth

Sri Lanka lack depth in their fast-bowling battery, coach Graham Ford said, after two frontline quicks left the tour of England with injury, and a third was reported for a suspect action. 

Shaminda Eranga is scheduled to undergo a biomechanical test at Loughborough on Monday after he was reported following the match at Chester-le-Street. Though he is likely to be free to play the Lord’s Test – before the results of his test are known – Sri Lanka may opt to save him the extra scrutiny by fielding another bowler in his place.

The selectors will consider handing a debut to 29-year-old left-armer Chaminda Bandara, who is said to swing the ball at a lively pace, but has scarce A team experience. The team’s fast bowling stocks have been repeatedly depleted by injury over the past three years. On this tour they have lost Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera to injury.

“Maybe it’s a little alarming that perhaps we don’t have the depth that we were hoping that we would have at this stage, in the fast bowling department,” Ford said. “That’s a project for the future, because there are those injuries around fast bowlers. I did see some exciting Under-19 bowling before we came out here to England. I’m sure there are talented boys and if they’re looked after properly, we should have a decent unit of fast bowlers.”

If Eranga does not play at Lord’s, Sri Lanka would have effectively lost their best quick of 2015 (Prasad), their fastest bowler (Chameera), and the …

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