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| Wednesday, 31 March 2004 |
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We would have won against any other team - Dyson By Sa'adi Thawfeeq Coach John Dyson said that if Sri Lanka had played the same brand of cricket they displayed against Australia with any other side they would have won the series. "Against this team it turned out to be 3-0 whitewash. It was disappointing but as I said to the team there had been very good cricket matches and there had been periods of cricket where we had played exceptionally well," said Dyson. "We can come away from the series with a lot of positives. We certainly learnt a lot about ourselves, our cricket and the things that we need to do to go forward from here and become a better cricket team." "There is no particular area we did badly in. It is just that over the series Australia showed that they were capable of fighting back and clawing back from situations from where they are expected to lose," he said. "The Australians continued with pressure in their fielding and their bowling. Their bowlers bowled extremely well throughout the series. They bowled too many incredibly good balls and unfortunately we weren't able to keep them out," Dyson continued. "In the England series our decision making process was very good. Australia can exert pressure at all times. They have such talent and they are so well drilled in what they do in terms of their professionalism. It goes right back to the Shield cricket they play in when they are not playing for Australia. They are very good in these pressure situations," he said. Dyson said that Sri Lanka had a lot of areas to work on. "We need to sharpen some of the players' mental skills and adopt a few new strategies. Against England they were fine. But against the best we have been found a little lacking," he said. Dyson said that chasing 300 on the final day on the SSC wicket was always going to be difficult. "We were in a position to save the game but believe me the guys did not throw the game away. Australia bowled very well. In this series we had two of the best spinners in the game. Murali and Warne who both deceive batsmen," he said. Dyson said that it was good for world cricket that teams like Australia are getting used to playing in the subcontinent. "In the past the subcontinent was a nightmare for teams, but these days with so much cricket being played all around the world including the subcontinent, teams like Australia are used to playing here. They pick teams that will play well here. It is good for world cricket because we will get a more consistent standard and we will be able to measure ourselves wherever we go," he said. |
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