Dav Whatmore National Coach It’s four months since Sri Lanka last played a Test match and we arelooking forward to proving that this side can replicate its one-daysuccess in the longer version of the game
Dav Whatmore12-Aug-2001Dav Whatmore
National CoachIt’s four months since Sri Lanka last played a Test match and we arelooking forward to proving that this side can replicate its one-daysuccess in the longer version of the game. We may not have won a Testseries for over a year, but I firmly believe that this side is muchstronger than those statistics suggest.Since beating Pakistan in March last year, we have lost series againstPakistan, South Africa and England, but you need to bear in mind twothings: firstly, international cricket is very competitive nowadaysand that the margins between sides are smaller and, secondly, that wecame so close to winning two of those four series.Against South Africa and England we failed to win the series afternail biting matches in Kandy and in both games we lost despite havingestablished winning positions. Unfortunately, we slipped up at crucialtimes and let the opposition back into the match. We failed tomaintain our intensity and concentration throughout the game and paidthe ultimate penalty. You have to remember though that this is still ayoung side and their inexperience probably told on those twooccasions.Indeed, there is now the basis of a very strong Sri Lankan Test teamand I don’t even believe that the players themselves really understandhow good they can be.The team has a good balance now. There is a talented batting line-upwith a good mix of youth and experience, the strongest pace attackthat we have had for some time, and probably the best spinner in theworld today. With a little more self-belief I have no doubt whatsoeverthat the building blocks for sustained success are there.Hopefully, we will take the confidence gained from three successiveone-day tournament victories (England, ARY Gold Cup and Coca-Cola Cup)into the Test matches. It’s also useful to be playing against a sidethat we so defeated so convincingly in a one-day final. Sure, it’s adifferent game, but psychologically it should give us a boost.India are missing a few key players because of injury (SachinTendulkar, VVS. Laxman, Anil Kumble and Ashish Nehra) and on papertheir side contains young players still learning about the game. Thatdoesn’t mean we can take them lightly though. They too have talent andwhen the game begins we can expect a tough fight.We have therefore focused preparations on our own performance. Oneneeds to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individuals onthe opposition, but you must then turn your attention to the processesnecessary to achieving success. We work on the basis that if we all doour jobs correctly then it’s going to make life very difficult for anyopposition.This series is going to be a really tough one for all the players. Wewill be playing 15 days of Test cricket in just 20 days, which will bestretching the human mind and body to the limit. Physically it’s goingto be a real challenge and player fitness will be an important factor.The short recovery time between games also heightens the value of agood start. After losing that tension draining Test match againstEngland in Kandy we only had two days to recover before the third Testmatch and I believe that made it really hard for the Sri Lankanplayers to bounce back. The team that loses the first game in thisseries will also have just two days to recover and they will reallyhave their backs to the wall.The contest between Harbhajan Singh and Muttiah Muralitharan is goingto be fascinating. Both are world-class bowlers and they have manysimilarities, especially in their wholesome approach to the game. Bothpossess a strong desire to succeed and to bowl long spells. They arenaturally aggressive and expect a wicket with every delivery. Muralispins the ball more and has more variations, which is understandableconsidering his extra experience, whilst Harbhajan has excellentcontrol and is a canny operator.One key feature of the series is going to be the pace bowling. WithMurali and Harbhajan participating you naturally cannot discount thespinners, but I feel that the side with the better fast bowling attackhas a great chance of winning, especially if it is backed up with finefielding.This will give us confidence because we now have two world-class fastbowlers in Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando and have a lot of depthin our fast bowling reserves, with all three of the other fast bowlersin the 16-man squad being excellent bowlers.