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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Dav Whatmore

Sri Lanka cricket coach Dav Whatmore believes the three hard months his team underwent in South Africa and in Australia should reap its rewards during the 2003 World Cup in Africa.

"The chances of performing under South African conditions is greater because of what's happened in the last 2-3 months. But no guarantee like any match," said Whatmore.

"In the World Cup it is not against one opposition that we will be playing against, but many. The idea is to try and win as many games before the last match against South Africa which would give us more confidence coming up against an opposition that has beaten us 4-1 just a few months ago," he said.

"We needed to go through the pain and heartache in South Africa and in Australia to get an understanding of those conditions. It will hold us in good stead despite the confidence being knocked a bit. We have lost against good opposition in their home conditions," he said. Whatmore said his overall assessment of the Australian tour was he wasn't unhappy with the results. Sri Lanka won only two of their eight qualifying round games, one each against Australia and England, but came rather close to winning two more against the same opposition.

"We were close to winning at least 50 percent of those eight games which to me is pretty good. It gave an indication to all close to the team that we were now heading in the right direction and beginning to show the rewards of playing under different conditions in South Africa and Australia," said Whatmore.

"It is not easy for any team travelling from the sub continent in those conditions against Australia and South Africa. However the experience in those conditions are invaluable," he said.

Whatmore said the confidence was gradually starting to return to the players because of those good performances against England and Australia and then pushing both sides on two further occasions at Adelaide and Brisbane.

Whatmore was of the opinion that Sri Lanka's opening match of the World Cup was very vital to the team progressing to the next round of the competition.

"Its a must win situation. It will give the team a big boost if we can get away to a win. It will probably be the match of the round in our pool. It's a big match for both teams," said Whatmore.

He said he was not sure whether New Zealand's one-day series against India was their best preparation for the World Cup.

"They won on bowler friendly wickets. It is not going to be easy to adjust in a short space of time. New Zealand are not a team of big stars, but bits and pieces players who do it fairly well and with good team spirit. They have a good history of starting competitions well," said Whatmore.

After their World Cup opener against the Kiwis on February 10, Sri Lanka have relatively three easy games against Bangladesh, Canada and Kenya before they come up against West Indies and South Africa in their final two Pool 'B' games.

During the Australian tour there were many areas in their cricket where Sri Lanka needed to improve before the World Cup. Here's Whatmore's assessment on them:

Bowling: "I was as frustrated as everyone about the frequency of no-balls. No stone was left unturned in trying to fix that problem. At the end of the day it is the responsibility of the individual to do the job. Dilhara (Fernando) is fully aware of that. His performances could have been so much better than his 13 wickets. He took two wickets off no-balls, and was probably the unluckiest bowler in the tournament having at least five catches dropped off his bowling. Had those wickets brought credit to him he would have ended up with 20 wickets. That is superstar status. The potential of him doing well is there. The no-ball issue was not only exclusively Sri Lanka's. Other teams also had the same problem. It was reflected more against us because of our losses".

Fielding: "In 1996 our fielding was more safer and solid. The present boys are a bit more athletic and younger than the ones seven years ago. We know what the team is capable of in terms of skill. I think it is more the concentration factor caused by totally different atmospheric conditions. A tell tale sign of a team not performing well is the reflection of the degree to which they are fielding".

Running between wickets: "Sri Lankan batsmen are more noted for their strokeplay rather than a construction of a single in front of the wicket. It is an area the boys are fully aware of. When the bowling is tight you have to create a single to keep the board ticking. It is the confidence of both batsmen to respond to each other and have faith in each others calling".

Batting: "In World Cup competitions you need a little bit of toughness in your mind in batting. You need that little bit of strength of mind in big matches. We got some good youngsters but it is the strength of mind and that little bit of experience that pulls you out of tough situations. Aravinda's (de Silva) and Hashan's (Tillakaratne) inclusion can mean the difference.

Whatmore said the days when batsmen were given a set position in the batting order were a thing of the past.

"In this modern day of cricket batsmen in the top six or seven will have to be prepared to go out there and do a job, depending on the position of the game. It is not anything new to our boys.

We have spoken about this on many occasions and we all agree that if required, any one of those batsmen should be ready and mentally prepared to do that. To have a set position also makes it easier for the opposition to do a bit of planning and block us up. Most of the teams are using that flexibility," said Whatmore.

He said one of the areas that was identified during the Australian tour was the repeated instances when three to five wickets go down within the first 15 overs.

"It makes it very difficult to come back from such a position. Hashan is one player flexible in that role and we will be using him according to the situations," Whatmore said.

Having coached the team that won the World Cup seven years ago, Whatmore said the chances this time around are tougher because of the conditions they will experience.

"The biggest difference is experience and pitch conditions. The 1996 team was a fantastic one. All subcontinent teams will struggle and the task is difficult. Because we had these tours to South Africa and Australia, our chances of performing well are much greater.

I dont want to predict, but I am going to make sure that each game we play is going to be very competitive," said Whatmore.

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