COLOMBO: Sri Lanka picked veterans Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas in a preliminary squad for next year's World Cup. Sri Lanka Cricket released a list of 30 players Monday, of which 15 will be selected for the final squad. Jayasuriya's 20-year international career looked to be over after a poor World Twenty20 competition earlier this year, in which the left-hander scored 15 runs in six matches. The setback drew wide criticism from cricket fans but the batsman, who is also a ruling party lawmaker, vowed to return to play at the World Cup. Squad: Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Dinesh Chandimal, Tharanga Paranavitana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Jeevan Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Malinga Bandara, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dilhara Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Dammika Prasad, Chaminda Vaas, Chanaka Welegedara, Nuwan Pradeep, Thilan Thushara. ‘Warne return fanciful' Talk of Shane Warne coming out of retirement to rescue Australia's stumbling Ashes campaign is “fanciful”, according to Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland. Australia's comprehensive innnings and 71-run defeat by England in Adelaide last week sparked media calls for the recall of the retired 41-year-old spin bowling great. Sutherland, however, said octagenarian television commentator Richie Benaud, who last bowled a ball on the Test stage in 1964, was as likely to pull on the baggy green cap again. “Shane retired from Test cricket almost exactly four years ago and, by his own admission, he hasn't touched a cricket bat or ball since the (Indian Premier League) IPL early this year,” Sutherland told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. “CA hasn't spoken to him about playing and, while the selectors operate independently of CA management, I am not aware of them having any intention of talking to Shane. He is Australia's greatest-ever bowler and he was always going to be irreplaceable. World cricket is unlikely to see the likes of him again in our lifetime. There has been a lot of passionate debate about cricket since Adelaide, some of it's sensible and some of it fanciful.” Warne has played for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL but his return would not fit with the selectors' policy of looking to the future and build a new team of world beaters. “I haven't had too much to laugh about in the last week or so, but I did smile when I read Richie Benaud's quote that the thing that disappointed him about this debate was that nobody had suggested he make a comeback himself,” Sutherland said.
