Angelo Mathews, former captain of Sri Lanka, is set to return to international cricket

After declaring himself available for selection again, Angelo Mathews might be in line for a comeback to Sri Lanka. While neither Sri Lanka Cricket nor Mathews have issued an official statement on the situation. It is  believed that Mathews emailed SLC with his intentions, and that the board will make a final decision on the matter during a meeting on Tuesday.

Mathews had declared himself unavailable for selection earlier this year, citing his dissatisfaction with how he and other seniors were treated during a months-long contract dispute. Mathews was set to receive a wage decrease in the range of USD 50,000 under the board’s core contracts (LKR 99,50,000 approx).

During this time, Mathews was dropped from the limited-overs squads, along with fellow seniors Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal, as Sri Lanka focused on a youthful revamp of their white-ball squads.

By the time the contract dispute was resolved, Mathews had already expressed his dissatisfaction and ruled himself out of consideration, with rumours of a probable retirement circulating. Since then, Chandimal has returned to Sri Lanka’s limited-overs side, even making the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, while the year-long bans imposed on Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunathilaka, and Kusal Mendis for their biosecure bubble breach in Durham have left Sri Lanka’s batting inexperienced.

If Mathews does return to Sri Lanka, he will most likely start with a home Test series against the West Indies in November, followed by the Lanka Premier League in December.