Sri Lanka should not take England lightly (11 January 1999)

11 January 1999

Sri Lanka should not take England lightly

By Elmo Rodrigopulle

The Sri Lankans will certainly miss the all-round ability of Aravinda de Silva when they take on England in their first Carlton and United one day series game here tomorrow.

De Silva's injury has put the Sri Lankans on the back foot even before the tourney begins. De Silva who tore a muscle on his left leg going for a quick single in Melbourne is under the watchful eyes of physio Alex Kountouri and is responding to treatment. But only slowly.

De Silva's absence has forced the Sri Lankans to rethink their strategy. Whom to bat at number 4 will be their dilemma. Aviskha Gunewardena is likely to get a game. Where to bat him will be a problem. The Lankans would prefer to bat Roshan Mahanama in the number 4 slot. But here again Mahanama's poor form is causing concern.

De Silva's injury is a big setback and the Lankans are hoping that whoever bats in this spot will come good.

Openers Romesh Kaluwitharne and Sanath Jayasuriya have been middling the ball well and can be relied on to give their side a strong start from which to build on.

England failed against the Australians in the opener. They cannot be written off and Sri Lanka will do well not to take them lightly.

Jayasuriya is still a bit uncertain outside off stump. A big responsibility rests in him and he will be under pressure to maintain his standing as one of the best batsman in one-day cricket.

Kaluwitharana is going well and he will do well to watch the field that is placed for him before launching into strokeplay. One drop Marvan Atapattu with poor scores of 10, 12, 12 will be looking to come good.

Darren Gough, Allan Mullaly and Ealham are all good swingers of the ball and Jayasuriya, Kaluwitharane and Atapattu will do well to get in line before executing their strokes.

Ranatunga too has a big burden to shoulder. He will have to stay at the wicket and tell his batsmen how they should play.

Mahanama, Tillekeratne, Chandana and Vaas must all make runs and help post a formidable total, for their bowlers to get their acts right.

In bowling the Lankans have still not decided whether to go in with three pacies - Vaas, Wickremasinghe and Zoysa. They will have a look at the wicket before deciding.

Vaas is bowling extremely well. He has been pitching line and length and swinging both ways and should be among the wickets.

World's number one off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan who is attracting much attention owing to the crime committed on him by umpire Darrel Hair, is sure to be tormented everywhere he trades his wares. But he is sure to keep his wits.

The Sri Lankan running between the wickets and catching has been sub standard. Vital catches have popped out of their hands. This is because they are not watching the ball into their hands.

The running between the wickets too is very poor. The batsmen will do well to judge the run before calling and running blindly. Good and clever running between the wickets can upset the opposing field placings.

However the Lankans will be hoping that they will come good and beat the Englishmen and draw first blood.

England who were done in the test series will be looking to raise their game although they went down to Australia yesterday. It was their batting that let them down. Skipper Alex Stewart first ball dismissal put them on reverse gear and that is how they stayed throughout the game.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)