Sri Lanka are likely to recall Marvan Atapattu for the forthcoming tour of Australia. Ashantha de Mel, the chairman of selectors, said the team would require experienced players like him, and that the selectors were mindful of the fact that Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test in Australia.
"We need his experience in Australia," de Mel told AFP. "He has the technique and temperament to stay at the crease.It will be very important for the two Tests against Australia. I will talk to him about his availability."
Atapattu did not play a single game in the World Cup in the West Indies, despite being in the squd, and was overlooked for the subsequent one-day series in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan. He then announced his unavailability for the home series against Bangladesh citing personal reasons and asked to be released from his central contract, sparking speculation that he might be linked to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Earlier, captain Mahela Jayawardene too supported Atapattu's inclusion and called on the selectors to find out whether he would be willing to commit to a tough series.
"We love to have him around," said Jayawardene. "He is a top class performer. For a fact I know that he still wants to continue to play cricket for Sri Lanka. He wanted to be released from his contract purely because he wanted to see other avenues in his career. The best thing would be to have a dialogue with him and find out what he wants to do."
Sri Lanka play two Tests in November and return for the tri-nation CB Series in February, also featuring India.

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Sri Lanka in Australia, 2007-08
Atapattu unlikely for Australia tour
Cricinfo staff
October 3, 2007

Marvan Atapattu refused to have a chat with the selectors © Getty Images

Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, is unlikely to make the team for the tour of Australia after refusing to attend a meeting with the selectors.
"I got an email from the CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket inviting me for a discussion at 5pm [on October 3]," Atapattu told Reuters. "The email said the selectors were going to be there too and I replied saying that I did not want to waste my time with a selection committee headed by Ashantha de Mel."
Following Atapattu's snub, de Mel, the chairman of selectors, told AFP there would be no further attempts to speak to him and Sanath Jayasuriya would be chosen instead
Prior to the scheduled meeting, de Mel had indicated that Atapattu would be recalled. "We need his experience in Australia," de Mel said. "He has the technique and temperament to stay at the crease. It will be very important for the two Tests against Australia. I will talk to him about his availability."
Atapattu did not play a single game in the World Cup in the West Indies, despite being in the squad, and was overlooked for the subsequent one-day series in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan. He then announced his unavailability for the home series against Bangladesh citing personal reasons and asked to be released from his central contract, sparking speculation that he might be linked to the Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, had also supported Atapattu's inclusion and called on the selectors to find out whether he would be willing to commit to a tough series.
"We love to have him around," Jayawardene said. "He is a top class performer. For a fact I know that he still wants to continue to play cricket for Sri Lanka. He wanted to be released from his contract purely because he wanted to see other avenues in his career. The best thing would be to have a dialogue with him and find out what he wants to do."
Sri Lanka play two Tests in Australia in November and return for the tri-nation CB Series in February, also featuring India.
© Cricinfo

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so will murali tour australia this time or opt out again?

he will and should tour australia and break warne's record over there

goody thx

Good thanks

Atapattu rejects Australia tour

Atapattu was Test captain for three years until December 2005

Former Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu has rejected the opportunity of a return in the two-Test series in Australia starting on 8 November. Selectors met with Atapattu, who has not played at international level since February, but he declined their offer.
Jehan Mubarak and Thilan Samaraweera are included, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Malinda Warnapura omitted.
Fast bowler Chanaka Welagedera, 26, earns a chance after impressing in domestic action recently.
Star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is expected to recover sufficiently from the bicep injury that kept him out of the opening matches of the one-day series against England.
The mercurial 35-year-old, who had his action called into question on previous visits to Australia, needs only eight wickets to level Shane Warne's Test record of 708 victims.

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Sri Lanka squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva, Thilan Samaraweera, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Chanaka Welagedera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.



Source: BBC

Atapattu not included after stating unavailability
Sri Lanka announce squad for Australia tour
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
October 5, 2007

The end of the road for Marvan Atapattu? © AFP

Marvan Atapattu, the former captain, has not to been included in Sri Lanka's 16-member Test squad to tour Australia after stating his unavailability; while Tillakaratne Dilshan, the right-hand middle-order batsman, has been replaced by Jehan Mubarak.
Atapattu probably closed the door on his international career when he snubbed the selection committee for a second time by turning down an invitation to meet them. Earlier he had pulled out of the home Test series against Bangladesh stating 'personal reasons', and later went on to play league cricket in England.
Atapattu has been out of the national team since the 2007 World Cup, where he did not play any of Sri Lanka's 11 matches despite being a member of the squad. Sri Lanka reached the final of the tournament, where they lost to Australia.
The selectors, who were to leave out Sanath Jayasuriya to accommodate Atapattu, were forced to fall back on Jayasuriya, who is expected to make the Australian series his final one in Test cricket.
Thilan Samaraweera, 31, has earned his recall after playing the last of his 39 Tests in England in 2006.
Chanaka Welegedera, the left-arm fast-medium bowler from Matale, is the only new face in the side. He forced himself into contention with some outstanding bowling performances in the past six months, notably his first ten-wicket haul to bowl the Sri Lanka Invitation XI to victory over Tamil Nadu in the four-day MJ Gopalan trophy tie in Colombo last week. Highly-placed sources said Welegedera is looked upon as a likely successor to the experienced Chaminda Vaas.
Muttiah Muralitharan, who is recovering from an injury to his right bicep, also gets the nod. He is expected to play in the last two ODIs of the on-going series against England, but selection committee sources said that they would not rush him into playing. Murali is chasing Shane Warne's world Test record of 708 wickets and will travel to Australia needing nine wickets from the two Tests to become the highest wicket-taker.
The first Test will be played in Brisbane from November 8-12 and the second Test in Hobart from November 16-20.
Sri Lanka Test squad [subject to Sports Ministry ratification]:
Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva, Thilan Samaraweera, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Farveez Maharoof, Chanaka Welagedera, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara.


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Captain prepares for next challenge
Jayawardene looks towards Australia
Cricinfo staff
October 14, 2007

Mahela Jayawardene: 'If you've had a bad period you have to make sure you learn from your mistakes' © AFP

Mahela Jayawardene is already looking forward to Sri Lanka's next challenge, a Test series in Australia, after their 107-run victory in the final one-day international against England in Colombo offered a timely boost. Despite going down 3-2 in a contest they had been expected to win, Jayawardene said the way his side bounced back in the final match bodes well for the future.
"We knew we had this in ourselves and we know we are a very good side so it's good that we're off to Australia in 10 days' time and it was a very good boost for us to go with a win," he said. "It was a good start [to the series] and we finished well but we played some really ordinary cricket in between - it was well below par, especially for our standards at home.
"That's something we really want to work at, but I was quite happy with a lot of individual performances. Batsmen should have taken more responsibility in this tournament with the way we played."
Sri Lanka have a poor record in Australia having struggled with the extra pace and bounce in the wickets on previous tours. But the home side will take the field in a Test for the first time since the retirements of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, while Jayawardene feels there is time to adjust to conditions before the opening encounter at Brisbane on November 8.
"What we're going to get in Australia will be totally different," he said. "We've got two warm-up games before the first Test and that's something for us to work on. We've got two or three weeks before the first Test match so we've got ample time to get back into things.
"This is what cricket is all about. If you've had a bad period you have to make sure you learn from your mistakes - that's what being a professional cricketer is all about these days. You don't have that much time to think about what went wrong, we have to get back into things straight away."
© Cricinfo

Sri Lanka in Australia, 2007-08
Bayliss optmistic about Sri Lanka's chances
Cricinfo staff
October 15, 2007

Trevor Bayliss: "Between [Muttiah] Muralitharan, Mahela [Jayawardene] and some of the veteran players, they have a very good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian players" © AFP

Eager to embark on his first Test series next month, Sri Lanka's coach Trevor Bayliss has said it will be strange being on the opposite side of the fence while taking on Australia, his home country.
"Everyone's excited about Australia. For me, it will be strange having been involved with them for so long," Bayliss told the Sydney Morning Herald. "But that's just the nature of the game these days, and I can't wait to be involved in my first Test match in this position."
Bayliss, 44, a former New South Wales batsman who went on to coach them, was appointed as Sri Lanka's national coach for a two-year term beginning in August. His first one-day series ended in Sri Lanka going down 3-2 to England.
Over the past few weeks, there has been debate in Sri Lanka's political circle to overturn the selectors' decision to drop Marvan Atapattu from the touring squad. But Bayliss hoped it won't have a major impact on their campaign in Australia. "We have a captain in Mahela [Jayawardene] who I would put right up there with the Waughs and Mark Taylor as far as leaders go. The influence he has on his players is as great as anyone I've seen in the game. He has the complete respect of the players, and I've found him to be a quality bloke.
"At the moment, I'm just learning about the system here. Over time, I will let the board know if I have any ideas about how to improve things."
Bayliss was optimistic about Sri Lanka's chances against Australia, despite them having a poor record there - losing six of the eight Tests. He was also confident that Muttiah Muralitharan would be fit for the two-Test series, starting on November 8. "He's obviously crucial to us, and we're just trying to make sure he's 100%."
Murali was ruled out of the one-dayers against England due to a bicep injury but is expected to make the tour to Australia, where he has a chance of breaking Shane Warne's record as the leading wicket-taker in Tests.
"Between him, Mahela and some of the veteran players, they have a very good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the Australian players. I might be able to give a little bit more insight in terms of some of the guys I've coached, but for the most part, I think they're in a really good position as it is."
Bayliss also said it had been difficult adapting to life in Sri Lanka. "The traffic, the smog, the food - it's all very new to me. I still can't shake the feeling at dinner time, 'Is this the meal that'll do me in?'. As any of my old team-mates will tell you, I love a good steak and potatoes, but now it's getting used to the hot curries.
"I have a new-found respect for the blokes over here, with the facilities they have to work with. Australians really don't know how good they've got it. But our [Sri Lankan] guys get on the job with no complaints and, as we've all seen over the years, have done a tremendous job despite the massive challenges they face."
© Cricinfo

thanks for all news