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Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from Australia....

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya said that his batsmen are preparing to deal with a barrage of bouncers from England and Australian bowlers in their two VB matches to be played over the weekend at Perth.

Sri Lanka come up against England in their second match of the competition tomorrow (Friday) and then face Australia for the first time on Sunday. Both are day-night games.

"We are expecting more short-pitched bowling in Perth," he said. "We have to do something about that, and we are looking forward to it".

It is not only that their batsmen will have to overcome pace and bounce, but also the fielding has to improve vastly if Sri Lanka are to make any impact in the competition.

In their opening match against England at Brisbane which they lost by 43 runs, Sri Lanka spilled crucial catches which cost the side dearly. "It was because of our fielding, rather than the bowling, that we lost. The bowlers did reasonably well, but we need to improve our fielding. We cannot miss important catches," said Jayasuriya.

Sri Lanka need maximum points from at least one of the weekend matches to remain in contention for a place in next month's best-of-three finals.

Meanwhile, injury hit England suffered another casualty when Ian Blackwell was hit on the hand at practice by fast bowler Steve Harmison. The big-hitting all rounder Blackwell suffered a nasty blow on his left hand off a short delivery, but X-rays revealed no fracture. All-rounder Adam Hollioake is expected to play his first match of the triangular series, probably at the expense of Blackwell.

Both sides have delayed naming their squads for the match which is expected to be played in extreme heat with temperatures expected to go up to 37 degrees celsius.

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