By RON FANFAIR
A former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper/batsman is set to be included in the Canadian cricket squad to prepare for this summer's International Cricket Council (ICC) Trophy tournament for Associate members in Ireland.
Pubudu Dassanayake, who played 11 Tests against South Africa, the West Indies, India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe and 16 One-day Internationals against South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan between 1993 and 1995, is now eligible to represent Canada in ICC-sanctioned tournaments under the "Deemed Nationals" criteria.
Under this criterion, a player has to be resident in a country for at least 183 days in each of the previous four years prior to a tournament.
Dassanayake, along with left-arm spinner Zahid Hussain, opener Asif Mulla and British Columbia middle-order batsman Haninder Dhillon fall into this category. Canada could field a maximum two "Deemed Nationals" in a match.
The captain of the three-time Toronto & District Cricket Association's (TDCA) premier league champions Centurions, Dassanayake scored 196 (av.13.06) in Tests and 85 (10.62) in One-day internationals before Chamara Dunusinghe replaced him for the 1994-95 tour to New Zealand.
Dassanayake was recalled to the international scene in 1998 for the Sri Lanka "A" versus England "A" series.
The 34-year-old middle-order batsman has been a consistent scorer in the TDCA premier league over the past three seasons, compiling 1,048 runs in 35 regular season games.
While Dassanayake moves a step closer towards playing for his adopted country, Canadian-born Australian resident Stewart Heaney does not qualify for selection. Under a new rule, the ICC stipulates that a player must have made some contribution to the country he's about to represent before he becomes eligible to play for that country.
The 24-year-old Heaney, who was born in Prince George, British Columbia, is a 2003 graduate of the Australian Cricket Academy. He scored 35 off 60 balls last month for the Australian Prime Minister's XI against the touring Pakistan cricket side at Manuka Oval. This rule came into effect after skipper John Davison and Ian Billcliff were recruited to play for Canada.
Overseas Cricket Club all-rounder Ian Khan will not be among the players named in the training squad to prepare for the ICC Trophy tournament. Khan, who represented Canada in three matches in the Six-Nations Challenge tournament in Sharjah last year, is re-locating to St. Lucia.
The national selectors are required to submit a list of 30 players to the ICC by April 30. The final squad of 14 has to be sent to the ICC by May 30.