Sri Lanka's tour of England, the beginning of a new era, has begun. So far everything has been, in a quintessentially English way, entirely pleasant. It was a bit chilly at Fenners, but even Sri Lanka's administrators anticipated that and the players now own thick tracksuits suitable for winter rugby training. The first game, a limber-up against a British Universities team, helped brush away some holiday-induced rustiness and having had a good workout they jumped aboard their coach and headed north up the M1 to Derbyshire, where they are staying in a refurbished castle. Lovely.
The simple fact is that Sri Lanka's batting on this tour should be its major weakness. This is not a new phenomenon though: even with Atapattu and Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka's top order has been brittle over the past couple of years. Their fielding has improved dramatically, the bowling is probably the strongest in history, both varied in type and resilient of mind, but to win they must bat out of their skins. This almost certainly means that they need sunshine on their backs and flat pitches. It would also help if Jayawardene, after nine consecutive losses of the toss, started flipping the coin or calling better. They'd also rather see Steve Harmison schedule his return for the ODI series in June.
Understandably, the Sri Lanka camp have been playing down their chances during the first week of the tour, telling the English media that while they are cherishing the prospect of smashing seven bells out of England's pace bowlers, this tour is all about the development of young players and the rebuilding of a team. A win would be nice, Tom Moody keeps stressing, but the crucial thing is that their players go back home stronger for the experience.
The problem, however, is that their supporters don't want to wait, they're desperate for success after a disappointing year. But now is the time for patience and not result-driven conclusions. Sri Lanka are in the throes of a major transition, a process that will accelerate after the 2007 World Cup, when even Chaminda Vaas might join Jayasuriya and Atapattu in retirement. Occasional defeats will unfortunately be inevitable over the coming year as these stalwarts, cricketers with vast experience and world-class skills, depart. Instant success is an impossible dream. Sri Lanka have the ability to compete if everything clicks, but they're faced with a mountainous challenge.
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Sri Lanka in England 2006:A mountainous challenge
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