Thirimanne needs a break

Sri Lanka A team coach Avishka Gunawardene is of the view that a break from cricket would do a world of good to beleaguered top order batsman Lahiru Thirimanne.

“Everyone goes through a bad patch sometimes it is best to give it a break, a few weeks from cricket,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne struggling to get runs on the board in the recently concluded three-match unofficial test series for Sri Lanka A against West Indies A.

Thirimanne managed just 59 runs from six innings with a top score of 27 to average a poor 9.83.

The series flop was just another continuation of his alarming slump in form since June 2014. In 16 Tests (31 innings) since then Thirimanne has crossed the fifty mark only twice (highest score 62 n.o.) and averages 18.27.

“Sometimes when you do wrong things and when you take a break you forget them. You basically tend to forget what you are doing wrong and you come out fresh,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne at close quarters during the West Indies A series.

“Thirimanne needs to take his mind off cricket and take a break. There is hardly anything wrong with his technique it is probably more mental than technique you could see when you talk to him,” said Gunawardene.

“In the 4-day game he dropped a few chances and it’s all to do with confidence. His confidence level is a little down. He tried to defend while batting and he got out and in the second innings he tried to attack and still got out. He is just going through a bad patch and needs to have a few weeks break.

“Thirimanne is a very good player and we all know he is capable of big innings. To me he just needs to get out and take a break for a couple of weeks and come out with a fresh mind,” Gunawardene said.

“It’s a good opportunity for him in the upcoming domestic season to go and get back into form, score some big runs and get his confidence and rhythm back.”

The 27-year-old left-hander who broke into the international circuit in 2011 was tipped to play the role of number three in the Sri Lankan batting line-up after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, a position he has so far not fulfilled.