We are capable of performing better - Kaluperuma

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Chairman of cricket selectors Lalith Kaluperuma said that the Sri Lanka team was capable of performing far better than they did in the first cricket Test against the West Indies at the SSC grounds, which they won inside four days by six wickets on Saturday.

"I think our boys are competent enough to perform well than what they displayed in the first Test," said Kaluperuma.

"We did a lot of mistakes in batting and bowling and played very loose cricket throughout the whole match. We need to improve in those areas and start playing to our true potential."

"Being out of international cricket for almost three months, the team looked rusty on the field. But I am sure they are quite capable of brushing up the faults and putting up a better performance in Kandy," he said.

The second Test begins at the Asgiriya Stadium on Friday with Sri Lanka holding onto a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Once again it was the old firm of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan whom Sri Lanka had to lean heavily on to run through the weak West Indies batting line up. They picked up seven wickets apiece in the match.

Asked whether this was a worrying factor for Sri Lanka for the future, Kaluperuma said that they had quite a number of young fast bowlers around and that the spin department was also adequately served. "We know that we will never get a bowler in the caliber of Murali, but in Sajeeewa Weerakoon, Malinga Bandara, Suraj Mohamed and Kaushal Lokuarachchi we have adequate replacements," said Kaluperuma.

He said the fast bowling stocks were quite high with the presence of Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa, Gayan Wijekoon, Farveez Maharoof and Danushka Lokuhettige.

Kaluperuma said the main focus is on the 2007 World Cup and the Tests and one-day series that lead up to that event in the next two years would be used as a guideline towards picking the best squad to represent the country in its attempt to win it again.

Sri Lanka turned the cricket world upside down nine years ago when they beat Australia to win the World Cup. Since then although they have emerged as a strong cricketing nation in both forms of the game, they have failed twice in their attempts towards regaining it.

Kaluperuma, a former Sri Lanka off-spinner who played in the country's inaugural Test match in 1982 said that the Sri Lanka squad for the one-day tri-series against India and West Indies starting at Dambulla on July 30 will be named during the Asgiriya Test.