Sri Lanka’s cricketers arrived at London Heathrow this morning for theirfirst ever Test series in England hopeful that they can quickly forget ameek performance in Sharjah and overcome the loss of star bowler MuttiahMuralitharan for the early part

Charlie Austin21-Apr-2002Sri Lanka’s cricketers arrived at London Heathrow this morning for theirfirst ever Test series in England hopeful that they can quickly forget ameek performance in Sharjah and overcome the loss of star bowler MuttiahMuralitharan for the early part of the tour.Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s captain for nearly three years now, who hasmarshalled his side to their nine consecutive Tests, admitted that the lossof Muralitharan for the first Test, and possibly the second, was a majorblow, but was hopeful that the team would respond well to the challenge.”I am very worried about Murali missing him on the early part of Englandtour,” he said. “It’s going to be very tough tour and to not have Murali andDilhara Fernando (back injury) is a major blow. There is now a lot ofresponsibility on the other fast bowlers to perform well in their absence.”England will perform well in their own conditions and we have a fight inour hands against them, but we do have some experienced players such asAravinda (De Silva) and Hashan (Tillakartne) and now have a very good sidethat includes some excellent fast bowlers.Nevertheless, with Sri Lanka having not won a Test match in the last tenyears without the services of Muralitharan, Jayasuriya is hopeful that hisspin magician is back for the second Test at Edgbaston: “According to Alex(Kontouri) he should be able to play in the third Test at Old Trafford andhas a slim chance of playing in the second Test.”Sri Lanka’s coach Dav Whatmore maintains that the team has the potential towin overseas and cast off their reputation for playing poorly abroad.”The team has moved on from the last England series,” said Whatmore. “Wehave had new players come into the side make an impression, some of theexisting players have progressed, confidence has grown and the players havebecome tougher mentally.””We want to emerge as a world force in Test cricket – a team that cannot betaken lightly in any conditions, against any opposition. To win in Englandwould be a fantastic moment for Sri Lankan cricket.””The key to being successful there will be how quickly we can adapt to theconditions. We can expect time to be lost for poor weather and each playermust make full use of their opportunities in the practice games.”Jayasuriya brushed aside the team’s 217 run humiliation against Pakistan inSharjah Cup 2002 final, claiming that it was now history, but some concernednavel gazing is inevitable. Sri Lanka can ill-afford to repeat the selectionblunders made there in England.”Our overall performance in Sharjah was good – we won three games – but wewere outplayed in every department in the final where everything wentagainst us,” Jayasuriya said. “But I don’t think that’s a worrying factor.What we have to consider it all history and move on.”He admitted the decision to play five batsmen was a mistake. “We had triedboth Kalu (Romesh Kaluwitharana) and Tillakaratne Dilshan in the middleorder without great success and in the final we opted for Kumar Dharmasenawhom we believed could handle the pressure.”Sri Lanka play their first game against Kent at Canterbury next Friday, thefirst of four first class practice games before the first Test at Lordsstarting May 16. They will play three Tests and a triangular one-day seriesalso involving India.