Triple boost for counties

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara is set to play for Warwickshire in the Friends Provident Trophy on Sunday © Getty Images

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Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas will be staying with the respective counties during Sri Lanka's one-day series with Pakistan but Sangakkara says this will give young players a chance.

Sri Lanka's squad for the three-match series in Abu Dhabi from May 18 to 22 will not include the trio and they will be concentrating on their duties for Warwickshire, Lancashire and Middlesex.

“I think this will be a good opportunity for the team to look at fresh talent,” Sangakkara said. “Our bench strength has been very good in the past.

“This will also be a great challenge for the newcomers, the players who have been performing at A level, to put their hands up and grab the opportunity given to them.

“In the past we have played without Muralitharan and Vaas and performed well. So this is nothing new and the team needs to look ahead and try to adjust with times and situations.”

Chaminda Vaas will be in the colours of Middlesex in 2007

Despite some calls for the old guard to retire as the team look ahead to the next World Cup in 2011, Sangakkara thinks the more experienced Sri Lanka players still have a lot to offer the national team.

“Two years from now I am sure that both Muralitharan and Vaas will definitely be playing,” Sangakkara said. “They are fit and performing and I don’t see them moving away.

“Even in the case of Sanath (Jayasuriya), who is older, he is very fit and is quite capable of performing. He has proved to the whole world in this last World Cup what a great player he is and he also won matches for his team.

“So I don’t want to look at anybody calling it a day in two years.”

For the moment, though, the cultured left-hander is concentrating on his career with Warwickshire as he gets to grips with his first taste of English county cricket.

He is likely to make his debut for the Bears in the Friends Provident Trophy game against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on May 13.

Sangakkara said: “It is an opportunity any player will be looking forward to. It is an opportunity to be exposed and understand what it is to be a professional player.

“It is also a learning curve with the environment the pressure and cricket almost seven days of the week. I must admit it is not going to be easy.

“Having said that, whether I do well or badly, I will end up gaining a lot of confidence knowing that I have played in the circuit and was exposed to one of the toughest challenges of cricket, where lots of international players have improved their game.”