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Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Kandy

KANDY, Monday - Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya that his team needed back up players but they cannot do big changes because there was only one Test match left at home and it was important to give the regular players the confidence.

"The selection for this Test was good and we won the series. That is the key. We didn't want to do any changes when we are doing well and till the series had been won. Some of the batsmen are starting to play well and we want them to continue," said Jayasuriya after his team had steam-rollered their way to an innings and 94-run win over Zimbabwe in the second cricket Test played at the Asgiriya International Stadium here today.

"The team is coming up well and going in the right direction at the moment and we will have to keep doing well. The batsmen are getting the confidence and we must give them the chance to play. Then they will come out with good performances," he said.

"We have a few tough series coming up this year against England and South Africa and it is a big responsibility on all of us to perform well outside the country. Performances outside our country is very important for us. It will give the players more confidence. We are aware of that and we want to do well," Jayasuriya said.

Under his captaincy Sri Lanka have recorded seven straight Test wins starting with the defeat of India in the third Test at the SSC in August last year. Of these wins, four have been by an innings and two by ten-wicket margins.

A selection dispute nearly affected the team morale when the selection committee dropped vice captain Marvan Atapattu and fast bowler Buddhika Fernando before saner counsel prevailed and Jayasuriya finally got the team he wanted to play under Kandy conditions. Jayasuriya praised the bowling of young fast bowler Buddhika Fernando who nearly did not play in this Test following the selection furore.

"Charitha bowled really well right throughout the second inning with Muralitharan. He got us the breakthrough that we were looking for. I was very happy to play the third seamer here because I know that he can reverse swing with the old ball as he did today," said Jayasuriya. "Buddhika scored 45 with the bat and showed he is a good prospect and an all round cricketer whom we have been looking for. I think we have to keep playing him and keep groom him.

"He performed well and showed everyone how he can bowl today. Outside Sri Lanka he will be more effective, that's why we wanted to play him and he produced his best," he said.

Sri Lanka cricket at the moment is riding on a crest of a wave, but Jayasuriya was wary that the show cannot go on forever. "You never know when we will have a bad day. We have always been reminding the players about it. All the players are aware of that. We have been playing more carefully towards the end of each session to get over the bad habits we had recently in the series against South Africa, England and India," said Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya said that Muttiah Muralitharan will play at Galle despite his finger injury.

"Murali doesn't have a problem with his injured finger but with his middle finger which he uses for spinning. It gets split a little bit. He didn't have problems bowling in the second innings and he should get his 400 wickets in Galle," he said.

Zimbabwe's dejected captain Stuart Carlisle said that it was disappointing to see so many of his batsmen get some good scores and fail to go and get a big one.

"We thought some of the guys would get some scores so that we could overhaul the deficit with five or six wickets down. There were a couple of careless shots, but on the whole I think we were a bit too tentative and sometimes negative," said Carlisle.

"It was sad that we didn't have a genuine spinner here because you really do need one.

"The Sri Lankans bowled well to a plan. They were tight and got the ball to reverse swing. We have got to learn from that. We bowled far too many four balls," he said.

Carlisle rated Muralitharan's performance of taking nine wickets in the first innings as "a fantastic performance".

"I have already said that he is a world-class bowler. He is a hard guy to play. There are plenty of strategies against him, but at the end of the day he is very hard to play. He fully deserves all his wickets and is a pure match winner. He is a real asset to Sri Lanka and they should be really proud of him," said Carlisle.

"Sri Lanka are a really good unit and have a really balanced side. They are also a relatively young side and I would put them there in the middle of the table. It is not easy to place them because all seven wins have been at home, where they are extremely hard to beat because they prepare pitches to suit Murali," he said. "The big test for them will be when they go overseas, in England and Australia where the ball moves around a bit off the seam. I think they could be in a bit of trouble," he said.

With only the Galle Test left for Zimbabwe to salvage something out of a lost Test series, Carlisle said: "There is a lot left for us in the last Test, which we need to use it to prepare for India".

"It's very tough leading a losing side and always having to pick the guys up. But I do think the talent is there. We have the players but not the self-belief," said Carlisle. 

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