Shehan Jayasuriya slams USA Cricket for partiality in selection; alleges misconduct in Yo-Yo tests

Sri Lankan batting all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya was absolutely fuming at the officials of USA Cricket for partiality in their selection process for the National T20 Championship. Jayasuriya wrote a letter to address the underlying issues when he was declined for selection on the basis of his Yo-Yo test scores. He attended the trials of the West Zone team in which Jayasuriya claimed that the chief selector was extremely biased in the selection process.

Shehan Jayasuriya wrote a lengthy letter to the apex cricketing body of the United States of America. The country will be hosting a major ICC event for the first time in its history when it co-hosts the T20 World Cup with West Indies. Ahead of the major event, Jayasuriya’s letter highlights the dark underlying issues within the USA’s cricketing system.

Players with below 16.1 Yo-Yo test results were also selected

The score of 16.1 on the Yo-Yo test was the benchmark to cross for players who wanted to get selected for the National T20 Championship. Shehan Jayasuriya who launched attacks on USA cricket, was left out because he couldn’t attain the required score. But the Sri Lankan was not frustrated for that reason, he was furious because there were players who had lower scores but were still selected.

Jayasuriya’s letter coincided with South West Zone selectors’ letter to USA cricket’s supremo Venu Pisike. The selectors confirmed the alleged biasedness in selection which also saw players like Unmukt Chand and New Zealand’s Corey Anderson miss out.

“It was brought to my attention by my peers that there were instances where players recorded inferior results to my test results but were still selected. Other instances where players self-administered the test with no controls or mechanism to validate the test was performed correctly. In fact, I am aware of instances where players were instructed by the Chairman of Selectors of the National Selection Panel to perform the test over video if they wished to ‘avoid any issues’, presumably referring to their selection,” Shehan Jayasuriya wrote in his letter to USA cricket, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

The South West Zone selectors Mark Demos and Abid Latif stated that players were indeed selected with lower scores in the Yo-Yo test. Demos had in fact regarded the chief selector Michael Voss as the puppet of the cricket board in one of his recent Facebook posts.

Tension further intensified after Mid West Zone selector Venkatesh Naidu also wrote in a separate letter that he knows the names of those players who were selected with Yo-Yo test scores of 15 and 14.6.

“I can attest that there are at least two players with scores of 15.0 and 14.6 who have been selected on the Mid West Zone squad. I do not want to disclose the names publicly for the sake of privacy but I am ready to provide the names privately to the board,” Naidu wrote, as quoted by Cricbuzz. 

What next for Shehan Jayasuriya?

Shehan Jayasuriya who last appeared for the Sri Lanka national team in March 2020, will be vying for a place in the team for this year’s ICC T20 World Cup. He has 436 runs from 30 combined matches of international T20 and One-day cricket.