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| Saturday, 14 February 2004 |
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Basher Jayasuriya awaits the Aussies by Sa'adi Thawfeeq One of the world's most destructive batsmen in contemporary cricket Sanath Jayasuriya said that as a senior member of the side he will have to make a big contribution if Sri Lanka is to be successful against Australia in the forthcoming one-day international and Test series. "I have already started working myself with the assistance of the coach (John Dyson) towards approaching the series. We have a good advantage playing in our own conditions," said Jayasuriya. "As a senior member I think my contribution is vital for the team's success." "Australia has a different kind of bowling attack and their attitude towards the game is totally different to that of England. We will have to play a different game altogether against them." "The Aussies cannot play here the way they do back home. It will not be easy for them. Our boys know what to do in our conditions. We have to plan against each individual. The wickets are on the slower side and we have a big advantage over them," said Jayasuriya. The master blaster of Sri Lanka cricket is on the verge of becoming his country's most capped one-day player and the highest run-getter in the short game. Jayasuriya is currently level on 308 one-day appearances with Aravinda de Silva and he is only 113 runs short of overhauling De Silva's one-day aggregate of 9284 runs - both of which are Sri Lankan records. The five one-day internationals against Australia give Jayasuriya the opportunity to surpass both these milestones and etch his name in the record books. The one-day series commences at Dambulla on February 20. At 34 years the strongly built powerhouse is still physically fit to give the hapless bowlers a torrid time. "I have been working very hard at my physical fitness in the last few years and I am very fit. I owe a lot of it to Alex (Kountouri) for what he has done for me as well as the other members of the team during the last 8-9 years," said Jayasuriya. "It is largely because of his training we are in this shape and very fit today. He has done a lot on his own, physiotherapy, training and even our diet has been controlled. I have a few years to go thanks to his training," he said. Jayasuriya said that he would view his future as a player series by series. "As long as I am physically fit and strong I will continue to play." DE SILVA AND JAYASURIYA COMPARATIVE ODI RECORDS M Runs Avg HS 100s 50s Wkts Avg. Best Ct De Silva 308 9284 34.00 145 11 64 106 39.40 4/30 95 Jayasuriya 308 9172 31.95 189 16 54 251 36.04 6/29 102 JAYASURIYA v AUSTRALIA In Tests 6 239 29.87 112 1 0 - - - 6 In ODIs 31 628 22.42 122 1 2 27 35.96 5/28 9 |
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