Jayasuriya scored more than 6,600 Test runs for Sri Lanka

The 36-year-old veteran recently retired from Test cricket following a home series against Pakistan.

But Asantha de Mel says he may ask Jayasuriya to join the team in England if they perform badly in this week's Test match at Lord's.

Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket defeat by England A in their final warm-up game at Worcester last weekend.

De Mel, who became chairman of the new selection committee on Saturday, has accused his predecessors of forcing Jayasuriya into premature retirement from Test cricket.

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He claims Jayasuriya was told to either go or be dropped and said: "The way it was done was absolutely ridiculous."

Jayasuriya's decision, after 100 Test appearances, has left Sri Lanka short of experience in their batting line-up.

"Sanath played a season of county cricket with Somerset last year and he's the only Sri Lankan to have scored a Test double hundred in England. You can't ask for better credentials," De Mel commented.

"If we don't do all that well in the first Test I might even ask Sanath to consider coming out from retirement and take part in the remainder of the Test series.

"If you get the current crop of players to do a 100-metre sprint, I bet Sanath would come first. There's no question about his fitness or commitment."

Sri Lanka hammered by England A

De Mel's predecessor, Lalith Kaluperuma, insisted, however, that persuading Jayasuriya to end his Test career has been a collective decision taken after consultation with team coach Tom Moody.

"The World Cup is vital and Sanath is an important member of the one-day team. We wanted to make sure he remained injury-free for the World Cup, so we asked him to concentrate on one-dayers only," he said.

De Mel, meanwhile, has criticised the team's overall performance since Moody took over as coach.

"We were number two in the world rankings when John Dyson was the coach and since Tom Moody took over last year we have slipped to number six," he said.