Galle wicket will help batsmen early on:

Mathews and Chandimal cynosure of all eyes

First of two Tests against B’desh begins today:

Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting

Now that all the bickering is over about signing of contracts, the Sri Lankan cricketers must now take the field and play to potential and beat Bangladesh in the Two Test matches with the first one beginning at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, today.

Against the lowly placed Bangladesh nothing short of two convincing victories will suffice. But the Lankans should not take them easy. The Lankans must not be complacent when they take the field.

The Lankans will have a new Captain and Vice Captain in Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal. It will be interesting to watch how they will come out in their new positions.

Long enough in the game

Both have been in the game long enough and know what is expected from them. Mathews who apprenticed under that marvelous skipper Mahela Jayawardene would have learnt and it is now up to him to take it from there and perform.

Mathews must make it his business to perform and perform regularly and consistently. He is one of the finest all rounder in the game today and he must live up to that reputation.

In the absence of the big scoring Jayewardene, the chances of Kithruwan Vithanage winning his first Test cap looks rosy. Vithanage is a talented batsman who can also bowl off spin.

Unbeaten century

He showed his capabilities with the bat by rattling up a stylish and quick unbeaten 168 against the visitors in the friendly game in Matara and must continue from where he left off and be in the runs again. The Galle Stadium wicket looks a very good one. Curator Jayanand a Warnaweera has done lot of work on it and promises a wicket friendly to both batsmen and bowlers.

The side winning the toss will do well to bat first, says the curator. From the looks of the wicket, it should help batsmen early on and then from the third day onwards favour the spin bowlers. In the Bangladesh side the batsman who will need watching is veteran and former Captain Mohammed Ashraful. He started off with an elegant hundred in Matara and the Lankan bowlers must not let him break free.

The ground in Galle and the surroundings look picturesque as usual and there is going to be a fair sprinkling of spectators, especially schoolboys who will be keen to watch five days of exciting and enthralling cricket. If the Test is to finish inside the distance it could be a calamity all round. Galle, Thursday