Bowlers in fine fettle, ready for England challenge - Mahela

Chris Dhambarage

CRICKET: Sri Lanka and England will be hoping to put a-side their disappointing performance at the recent ICC Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa as they are set to begin a gruelling five match one day series commencing on October 1 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

Both teams made an early exit and failed to reach the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup but will resume their battle in the 50 overs game with the first three one dayers in Dambulla and two games scheduled to be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena addressing a press briefing yesterday said that his team gained a good amount of experience while playing in South Africa. He said that especially the bowlers had a new experience with the introduction of the free hit which will be in effective during the one day series.

Jayawardena said that the bowlers are more disciplined in their effort with the new no ball rule and if they could continue with that form it will certainly help them to win the series.

He also noted that the skill level of the players have improved tremendously with the introduction of Twenty20 cricket and they should be able to carry that form into the 50 overs game.

The Sri Lankan captain of course was disappointed that the series does not start with a Twenty20 game but stressed the importance of having a solid domestic structure for the shortest version of the game.

England captain Paul Collingwood also backed the Twenty20 game as a ideal stepping stone for the 50 overs game although his team failed to make any impact at the inaugural ICC World Cup. He said that the art of running between the wickets have changed with the introduction of the Twenty20 cricket and there is a great urgency to score a run a ball.

The England captain was also concerned that the players should not get carried away too much with the Twenty20 game but they should concentrate and try to bat the full 50 overs.

Collingwood said that his team would badly feel the absence of star all rounder Andrew Flintoff who is now in danger of missing even the Test series against Sri Lanka in December.

However Collingwood described his team as an exciting bunch of cricketers who are capable of rising to the occasion. Even then he was quite aware of the challenges ahead of him because no English team have ever won a one day series in Sri Lanka.

The last time the two teams met in England it turned out to be a completely one sided contest with the Sri Lankans making a historic five nil clean sweep following a drawn Test series. Sri Lanka really got into top gear from thereonwards and went on to reach the final of the ICC World Cup in the Caribbean.

Even then skipper Jayawardena said that his team cannot expect the same result once again just because they had reached the final of a World Cup.

He noted that all the time teams are improving and with that setback in their mind, England will really come hard on them during this series.

England will start the tour with a one day warm up fixture against the Board President's XI at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium today before leaving to Dambulla on Saturday.