By Leonard Ratnayake in Cardiff, Wales
Sri Lanka’s chances of having any success during their tour of England for a white ball series will mostly depend on the ability on containing the English batsmen. In-form and hard-hitting English batters will try to stretch their arms to the maximum and to have a go at Sri Lankan bowlers as a consolation following a much-restricted lockdown era due to a pandemic.
Sri Lanka will take on England on Wednesday at the Sophia Gardens Cricket Stadium in Cardiff Wales at 18.30 at venue time which is 23.00 hrs in Sri Lankan clocks for their first encounter of a three match T20 international series. The second match will follow in the next day at the same time on the same venue. The third and final will be at Ageas Bowl in Southampton starting at 19.00 hrs in Sri Lanka time.
While Sri Lankan batters have shown to be among runs in the intra-squad practice games in England, it seemed the bowling department is yet to acclimatise to the local conditions for an improved performance. The responsibility of training the Sri Lankan bowling legion into a formidable attack against the Englishmen is bestowed upon their world champion bowler and now the head bowling coach Chaminda Vaas, who is optimistic that his squad has got a few surprises and different tricks to tackle the English batsmen. “We have just finished a good training this morning at Sophia Gardens which is going to be the match venue for Wednesday, and I am happy that the boys were very keen to condition themselves to the asking task” said Vaas.
Sri Lankan bowling coach, who is taking care of 18 bowlers on tour said that they have identified which areas each and every bowler needs to improve in order to become successful in English pitches and they will be working hard in the coming days before the two matches. “We have a young and talented bowling squad and we would like to give a few surprises to the English batsmen who have not played against some of them,” explained Vaas.
England’s have scored over 160 in all 5 T20 encounters against India while in the ODIs against the same opposition they have surpassed 320 runs in two out of three matches in their tour of India. Playing in home conditions, England would be a tough team to restrict to competitive scores.
However, touring bowlers have the advantage of a bowling coach who is the most experienced among the Sri Lankans bowling in English conditions. Apart from numerous tours to England Vaas has played for Northamptonshire and Worcestershire cricket clubs in the first decade of the century and could boast of successful performances in containing the bastmen. “They are mostly bouncy wickets, its all about bowling to a correct line and length, you should have a good discipline and a focus to bowl on English pitches” Vaas recalled of his good days.
Prior to the Indian tour, the Englishmen visited Sri Lanka for a two-match test series and have already had the providence of facing some of Sri Lanka’s bowlers during that tour. In the two Test early this year, English batters have faced Lasith Embuldeniya, Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dasun Shanaka, Dilruwan Perea, Suranga Lakmal and Asitha Fernando with Embuldeniya being the most threatening and the English cricket fans would miss him in action due to nursing an injury.
“It is different ball game totally from test cricket to white ball cricket, they will definitely have a different and an aggressive approach, we have to have a good self-control in our deliveries. There is truly little room for error” explained Vaas how hard it is going to be his bowlers. He repeated that only a proper focus and concentration for disciplined bowling could give good results in English conditions.
The champion bowler said that he is happy to be back and working with Sri Lanka Cricket and his aim would be to mould a few world-class fast bowlers to the Sri Lankan team in the nearest future. “It is all about commitment and sacrifice, we have got talent, as coaches we always look forward to nurture them and to share our experiences, but it is upto the players themselves to grab the best use of the opportunity” elaborated Vaas.
In his hay-days Chaminda Vaas were hailed for focusing more on accuracy in line and length than speed to become the most successful bowler so far that Sri Lanka had produced. He did infact refused repeated stints of playing English County cricket as he wanted to focus on national commitments and to stay privy of injuries.
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