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| Friday, 17 September 2004 |
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Sri Lanka will be tough By Andrew Strauss As we prepare for a crunch match at the Rose Bowl I don't think we should pay too much attention to Sri Lanka's hard-fought victory over Zimbabwe on Tuesday. The conditions at The Oval were foreign and there was a strong wind that made it difficult to play in but I'm sure they will be stronger for the experience. We know from experience that you under-estimate Sri Lanka at your peril. They have won 17 of their last 18 one-day internationals and they will be tough to beat. The accepted view that Sri Lanka struggle in English conditions neglects the fact they have bowlers who are in their element when there is some movement. Even without Muttiah Muralitharan their bowlers have been putting in some very good performances. Chaminda Vaas, for one, is highly experienced and he played at Hampshire last year so he knows all about this venue. I've played county cricket at the Rose Bowl and it's usually a wicket that can help bowlers, although the Hampshire boys tell me the one-day pitches have been good this year. It is the sort of place you have to be disciplined as a batsman - rather than starting with a crash, a bang and a wallop - but once you get in it should get easier. Sri Lanka's batsmen are massively experienced and they will back themselves to post a decent total or chase most targets. For that reason it is crucial that our batting fires and we get a big score. The pressure is on our batsmen because this is a quarter-final situation. One thing that should make it easier for us will be a capacity crowd of 16,000. The guys found it difficult to lift themselves against Zimbabwe because of the lack of atmosphere. You can't blame the people at Edgbaston with the match going into a second day but everyone likes a full house, where you feel appreciated. When we played India recently we often felt like the visiting side but the crowds were passionate and really enjoyed it, and it was a fantastic atmosphere to play in. It has been a long season for us so we took a few days off after playing Zimbabwe to recharge the batteries and I managed to make a rare trip to see Middlesex. We could be back at Edgbaston next week I am sure we will watch New Zealand's game against Australia with interest, aware that the winner could be our semi-final opponents. But to look ahead that far would be dangerous. If we slip up on Friday, we are out of the tournament, and we are fully focused on the task in hand. [BBC] |
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