Hove, May 20 :

Sri Lanka stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya is remaining positive about his prospects of a Test recall even though his chances of appearing in next week’s second Test against England seemed to suffer a blow this week.

The 36-year-old left-handed opening batsman was recently persuaded to end his Test retirement by new chairman of selectors Asantha de Mel and arrived in England ahead of schedule (he is still a one-day regular) during the drawn first Test.

Neither Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody nor captain Mahela Jayawardene were consulted about Jayasuriya’s recall and the former skipper was omitted from the ongoing tour match against Sussex. But an upbeat Jayasuriya said: “It doesn’t rule me out because they are trying out a few players here.

Jayasuriya knows he cannot take a recall for granted after the team’s battling display at Lord’s. “It was a good fightback from the whole team,” he said. “Coming back to draw was really hard work. The boys played very good cricket in the second innings.”