da 888casino： There can be no more persuasive case for the revitalising power of a goodholiday than the first ODI against England
Charlie Austin28-Nov-2003There can be no more persuasive case for the revitalising power of a goodholiday than the first ODI against England. Sri Lanka, champing at the bitafter four months without international cricket, conjured up a stormingperformance. No wonder John Dyson, the new coach, was smiling like aCheshire cat afterwards at the team hotel.Since taking charge on Sept 1, Dyson has not had the smoothest of rides. Thetragic death of his father forced him home for a while and the cursed denguefever left him bedridden soon after his return. In between he has beentrying to win the respect of some senior players, who were suspicious at theoutset of his relative lack of top class coaching experience. But on theevidence of a single razor sharp performance, Dyson has made a positiveimpact. He can now afford to relax a little.© Getty Images 2003Sri Lanka’s performance was refreshing for two reasons: first the boldnessof the selection and the fearless response of the two debutantes, NuwanKulasekera and Dinusha Fernando. They should not be lauded too much, as thepitch was sticky and England’s batting loose, but they showed great promise.The fact that both players have scored useful first-class runs is even moreencouraging – Sri Lanka are developing greater depth in their batting.The second major plus for Sri Lanka was the catching. Mahela Jayawardene’squick reactions and athleticism at slip were a joy. You could not believethis was the same man that wouldn’t have caught a toffee-stick against NewZealand earlier in the year. Tillakaratne Dilshan, a predatory fieldsman,also hung on to a stinging catch at point off Ian Blackwell. Three sharpcatches were gobbled and England’s fate sealed.Sri Lanka’s openers, thankfully not distracted by the unusual decision tohold a fireworks display at the start of the second session, did what theydo best: smack bad bowling. England’s bowlers, striving too hard for wicketsafter their batsmen had left them with an impossible task, served up someloose offerings and Sri Lanka cantered home. We did not even have time tofind out just how difficult it might be batting under the new Dambullalights.© Wisden CricInfoUnfortunately, the rain-soaked weekend in Colombo that followed, coupledwith Sri Lanka’s history of inconsistency, means that a 1-0 series winshould not be trumpeted too much. Sri Lanka landed a couple of useful earlypsychological blows – that’s all. The Test series beckons and with England’ssenior henchmen having returned – Nasser Hussain, Mark Butcher, GrahamThorpe – a serious challenge awaits.The usual recipe of heat, humidity and Murali might not be enough toovercome England’s batters this time. Murali has been sniping away in themedia like a prizefighter, but he knows that England have handled him withdisturbing ease in the last two series. His strike rate has plummeted to onewicket per 15 overs. Sri Lanka must contain England’s batters and Murali can’t be left shouldering all the responsibility – selection in Galle iscrucial.Sri Lanka can be expected to select only four frontline bowlers – probablyChaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Murali and Upul Chandana – with eitherThilan Samaraweera or Tillakaratne Dilshan at six. With Sanath Jayasuriya,who has an excellent record against England, also available then the attackhas a well-rounded look.But Sri Lanka need more options against England’s key left-handers and KumarDharmasena should play in place of the sixth batsmen. Murali is lesscomfortable against left-handers, despite all the guff to the contrary, andSamaraweera is simply not threatening enough. This will mean that RomeshKaluwitharana will have to shift up the order – hopefully that will focushis mind. A lower order of Dharmasena, Chandana and Vaas has the potentialto compensate for the loss the batting specialist.Whether Sri Lanka are willing to take that gambit remains to be seen. Thecaptain is not a poker player and we don’t expect risk-taking. That willgive England heart. They will try to stay in the series for as long aspossible. The longer they do so the more chance they have of putting SriLanka under pressure. The onus is on Sri Lanka to hit the ground running,like they did in Dambulla, and take charge of the series. This isTilakaratne’s test.