Lankan cricketers arrive in Christchurch today

Elmo RODRIGOPULLE from New Zealand

ARRIVAL: Sri Lanka will open their seven-week tour of New Zealand with a four-day first class warm up match against Otago State side at the University Oval, Dunedin from Thursday.

Since this is the one and the only side game for the tourists before they start their two-Test series against the Kiwis, the Lankans plans to make their final experiments.

The Lankan tour selectors will keep a close eye on some of their promising youngsters on tour before naming their team for the first Test, which is due to be played at the Jade Stadium in Christchurch from December 7.

Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody has told his boys to make use of the series in New Zealand to build-up momentum for the 2007 World Cup tournament in the Caribbean Islands.

In order to add strength to their preparations for next year's World Cup, Sri Lanka has also sent their 'A' team to the West Indies.

Malinga Bandara who is touring with the 'A' team is due to join the national team for the five-match one day international series against New Zealand to be played after Christmas.

Sri Lanka will only name their team for the four-day match against Otago after a few light work outs. The Lankan team, which left Colombo on Saturday, is due to arrive in Christchurch on Monday via London.

Hosts New Zealand too has delayed naming their squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. Local press reports said fast bowler Shane Bond is raring to go for New Zealand in their forthcoming Tests.

Bond has stated that that he was keen to play in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, the VB series in Australia, the Chappell-Hadlee series and in the 2007 World Cup.

Reports also stated that Scott Styris is likely to miss the first Test due to an ongoing back problem. Ahead of the home series against Sri Lanka, the Kiwi first-class players will earn a pay rise.

The move comes after the revenue for New Zealand Cricket (NZC) was forecast to increase by nearly NZ$10 million over the next four years.

The NZC has come to a four-year agreement with the six major state associations and the New Zeakabd Cricket Players' Association (NZCPA).

The agreement will run from 2006 to 2010. During this period, the NZC revenue is estimated to jump from NZ $ 88,993,656 to $97,353,305. That would pump an extra million dollars in the player payment pool, which funds NZC's centrally contracted players from each association.

After the four-day game here, Sri Lanka team will travel to Christchurch for the first Test to be played at Jade Stadium from December 7 to 11. The second Test will be played from December 15 to 19 at Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Prior to the five-match one day international series against New Zealand, the Lankan will play two Twenty20 matches against the home team.

The first of the two games will be played at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on December 22 while the other is scheduled for the Boxing Day at Eden Park, Auckland.

It will be interesting to see how the Lankans fare at the five-match ODI series which would give them an ideal lead up for the World Cup preparations.

Sri Lanka thrashed hosts England 5-0 in a similar series last summer and it would be interesting to see whether Mahela Jayawardena and his boys could maintain that form under conditions that are similar to England.

The Lankans must forget their setbacks at last month's ICC Champions trophy tournament in India and take the series in New Zealand with a new approach.

The five one day internationals between Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be played on December 28 (McLean Park, Napier), 31 (Queenstown Events Centre), January 2 (Jade Stadium, Christchurch), 6 (Eden Park, Auckland) and on January 9 (Seddon Park, Hamilton).