Jayawardene expects England to come back hard
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka has the rare honour of going into a Test match with the world’s best batsman and best bowler in their ranks as they take on England in the second cricket Test at the SSC grounds today.
With Kumar Sangakkara going to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings to join Muttiah Muralitharan who is similarly placed in the Test bowling rankings, Sri Lanka has everything going before them to seal the three-Test series at Sri Lanka Cricket’s headquarters over the next five days.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene said: “It’s to do with the brand of cricket that we play. We are not afraid to express ourselves out there whether it is in a Test or ODI. We just go out there and enjoy ourselves and play the brand of cricket we are quite used to playing. That has helped us to be the best that we can be.”
“We have lots of records in world cricket and hopefully we want to push ourselves a bit more every day. That’s the attitude we are trying to develop in our younger generation. Not just be complacent with the talent you have but still work hard so that they can be better players 5-6 years down the line.”
Jayawardene stated that over the last couple of decades Sri Lanka had played really good cricket and it all started with the 1996 group that won the country the World Cup.
“They showed that if we believe in ourselves we can definitely be one of the best teams in the world and be very consistent at that. The great efforts the present team put in is through the example set by that group of players who with limited facilities proved beyond anybody’s dreams what Sri Lanka can achieve. We do owe them a lot of gratitude for that. Our self belief, our motivation is because of them. We know we can be the best in the world if we work really hard,” he said.
Having won a Test of fluctuating fortunes in Kandy, Jayawardene is quite aware that England would come hard at them.
“England is a very good side. The first Test is a match they probably should have done much better, given the situation they were in after the first couple of days. In that regard we are very happy with the result. They’ll come back really hard at us and we just need to make sure we concentrate and look out for those moments and make sure we put them under pressure early in the Test and keep them down as much as possible,” Jayawardene said.
Veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya’s exit from Test cricket after the Kandy Test has allowed Upul Tharanga to return to open the batting with Michael Vandort. That’s about the only change Sri Lanka are likely to make from their winning side. Tharanga who had a great 2006 season lost his form and was eventually dropped from the team. He has since fought his way back with a century and an eighty against England in the warm-up games and with Jayasuriya’s retirement was the most likely candidate for the opener’s berth. With Marvan Atapattu who was Jayasuriya’s long standing opening partner also quitting international cricket, Jayawardene said that Sri Lanka cricket was currently going through a different phase.
“We just need to make sure we keep the focus going and help the youngsters to get through this period and guide them through because these are the guys who are going to take Sri Lanka cricket in the next decade or so,” said Jayawardene.
“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. It is easier for them to play in home conditions. For them to take that kind of responsibility on their own turf it will be a much easier job for them. They can move forward after that. We played guys like Chamara (Silva), Mubarak, Vandort and Upul when the opportunities came. These are not pretty new guys they’ve had some experience.
“Its tough both Marvan and Sanath leaving at the same time but we knew it was going to happen. Both of them were in the same age group and we felt they probably would make that call at the same time which happened. We were prepared for it and these are the young guys who can take that responsibility and we wish them the very best,” he said.
With their most destructive bowler Matthew Hoggard out of the Test with a back injury, England captain Michael Vaughan said: “It is going to be a tough decision having to work out the best combination which is going to get us 20 wickets.”
“If we bowled a little bit cleverly in the second innings and had taken our chances we could have won the game. That’s how close we were to getting a victory. It wasn’t just a draw that we were after. Three and a half days into the Test I expected us to win the game. The reasons why we didn’t are because we didn’t get them out quickly enough in their second innings. They declared leaving us a tough four sessions to bat out. That’s an area which is of slight concern. We have to look to get 20 wickets. This ground has always been pretty good for the batters so it’s not going to be easy,” Vaughan said.
“Coming back from being 1-0 down it’s been done before but it’s a really hard ask. The result suggests that we could have been home. We got ourselves in great positions even on the last day. With Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Vaas and Murali out there they are a very experienced team. We must try and get the senior players out and play Murali and Vaas well,” he said.
Steve Harmison looks the likely replacement for Hoggard. “Today he looked to bowl with rhythm in the nets. When I’ve seen him like that before, he has tended to bowl pretty well in the Test match,” said Vaughan.
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