Dhananjaya de Silva: Hoping to discuss opportunity to play more Tests

Posted by author January 28, 2025 Cricket

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Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva has described his team’s Test schedule this year as “really disappoining”. He believes it is a “big disadvantage” for a team such as Sri Lanka to play as few Tests as they have scheduled this year.

Beyond this two-match Australia series, Sri Lanka only have two home Tests against Bangladesh to come in 2025. Their next World Test Championship cycle has only 12 Tests scheduled for now – an average of six Tests a year.

“It’s really disappointing, as a good Test cricketing country, to have only four Tests,” Dhananjaya said on the eve of the two-Test series against Australia. “Honestly, it is a big disadvantage, especially considering ours is a good side, as well.

“I’m hoping we can get more fixtures than we have. We’re hoping to discuss the opportunity to play more Test series and hopefully we get an open window for that. Hopefully Sri Lanka Cricket can organise something. But all we can do is control what we can, and play good cricket in the matches that we do get.”

Sri Lanka were among the teams with a chance of making the World Test Championship final. If they had won one of the two Tests against South Africa, they would have come into this Australia series still in the hunt. But having been more-or-less trounced in South Africa, the best Sri Lanka can hope is to finish just behind the finalists, Australia and South Africa. Even for that to happen, they’d have to win this series 2-0.

“We were close to getting to the WTC final,” Dhananjaya said. “We have a good side and we were unlucky in a couple of games. If you take the two Tests we lost to Pakistan [at the start of the cycle] that was a big drawback. But we need to finish the cycle strong. If we can get to No. 3, then we will be satisfied.”