We must bowl to consistent lines and lengths - Mathews

Dilanka MANNAKKARA from the P.Sara Stadium

“We bowled well in matches and we have to improve a lot more in bowling to consistent lines and lengths”said Angelo Mathews after the second day’s play of the second test match between Sri Lanka and England at the P.Sara Oval,yesterday.

Sri Lanka who were over cautious in the entire morning session paid the heavy price for some poor strokes and were bundled out before lunch while England batsmen were grinding towards a huge score.Mathews also said that “we have to get early wickets in the morning session tomorrow and put pressure back on the English side”.

When Daily News posed the question regarding the near misses to get Alistair Cook’s wicket and the fact that whether the slips should have been a bit more up because of the inconsistent bounce as a chance went begging, Mathews replied by saying that the slips were up but the ball was so short of Mahela Jayawardena and it isn’t easy to be really up to fast bowlers bowling at 145 kmph. He also was of the view that Cook’s wicket was very important and that Lahiru Thirimanne dropping a tough catch might prove costly.

“We were looking at 300 plus,but we found it difficult to score runs in the morning plus the English bowlers were on top and bowled tight lines and lengths”commented Mathews after Sri Lanka had quite a poor day at the P.Sara grounds where England were right on top for the first time in the series.

“My calf was injured and I am trying my best to stay injury free but something is wrong with my legs,”Mathews said commenting on his injuries which have occurred in the recent past.“I wont give up on my test bowling yet,I will bowl in ODIs and T 20s depending on the pitches and conditions”.

Mathews also acknowledged the fact that the team must adjust to inconsistent bounce and be at their best in the remaining three days of play.