Playing only 5 Tests a year is really disappointing: Angelo Mathews
Former Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews expressed his disappointment at the lack of Test matches played by Sri Lanka, stating that the gap in the number of Tests that the nation is getting to play won’t do them any good going forward.
The fact that Sri Lanka were playing a game of Test after more than six months concerned Mathews as he discussed how challenging it is for the players to get used to a particular routine before starting to prepare for any series.
On the opening day of their first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch, Mathews scored 47 runs to go past the 7,000-run mark in Tests. After the game, he expressed his desire for his national side to get the opportunity to play more Test matches in the future.
“We are playing for it all. We know that it’s pretty straightforward, we need to win in New Zealand and we need to play extremely good cricket. The boys have been brilliant, especially in this Test championship in the last 8-10 months. But unfortunately, we are not playing Test matches in this year. As few as five,” Mathews said during a press conference.
Sri Lanka still have a chance to reach the World Test Championship final, with Australia being the team to have already qualified. India’s chances totally depend on the result of the ongoing fourth and final Test taking place in Ahmedabad, against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
It’s really disappointing: Angelo Mathews
Sri Lanka would want India to lose the fourth Test and the Islanders would aim to beat New Zealand 2-0 in the Test series. Mathews revealed that Sri Lanka have performed amazingly in the current World Test Championship cycle, and he also said that it’s a huge disappointment that there are not enough matches for them to continue their run.
“It’s really disappointing because, I mean, we are coming off a long layoff. The last Test match was 6 months back and then everyone is talking about Test cricket dying and stuff like that. But we are not doing any good for Test cricket, playing only 5 Tests a year. I think it’s really disappointing. But, hopefully, we will get more matches this year. 5 is definitely not enough,” he added.
Sri Lanka have played only 29 Tests since the start of the World Test Championship in 2019. The last Test match that they played was in July 2022 against Pakistan at home. Sri Lanka began the Test series against New Zealand by scoring 305/6 on Day 1 in Christchurch as their charge was led by Karunaratne and Mendis.
