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BRISBANE, Wednesday (Reuters) Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya is expecting a tough battle in the triangular limited overs series against Australia and England starting later this week.

Sri Lanka will use the tournament to regain form following their 4-1 series loss in South Africa, Jayasuriya said.

"It was a disappointing tour in South Africa because we didn't do very well but we are confident we can do well here," the captain told reporters after his team arrived at Brisbane airport.

"This is very important for us because it's the last series we'll play before the World Cup (in South Africa in February) and it's going to be tough competition here."

Sri Lanka will play a warm-up match against Australia A in Brisbane on Saturday ahead of their first game of the series against England in Brisbane on December 17.

Australia will start the series with matches against England in Sydney on Friday and Melbourne on Sunday.

Spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, recovering from a hernia operation, is expected to miss the first half of the series from December 13-22. The series resumes on January 9 after the fourth and fifth Ashes tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

The 30-year-old arrived with the team at Brisbane airport on Wednesday but declined media requests for interviews.

Muralitharan, who was called for throwing by umpire Darrell Hair in the 1995-96 Melbourne test against Australia, will thus miss a showdown with Hair in the December 17 match against England in Brisbane.

Sri Lankan board officials denied this week that there were attempting to avoid Muralitharan from facing Hair.

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