The Sri Lankan cricket team arrived in Guyana late Friday evening for the start of their Caribbean tour of two test and three one-day internationals.
The Sri Lankans arrived at the Dr. Cheddi Jagan International Airport at approximately 10:45pm Friday night.
They are expected to face a West Indie Select Team in a three-day warm up match at the Providence Stadium from Tuesday to Thursday.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene told the media that he felt the test series was too short and that he would have loved to play three Tests to really get accustomed to the conditions of the Caribbean.
However, Jayawardene said his team was looking forward to the series.
With no Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and no Corvis Mahroof, the Sri Lankan captain was confident that the players he brought with him on this tour could still do the job.
“These players are young and I like how they are playing and how they came through. We have some more young players coming, but these are experienced players and you have to take chances in this game of cricket to be able to move forward.”
When asked about the Test series win against England and the one-day series loss to Australia Jayawardene said:”Our team hasn’t been consistent with the One Day Cricket recently but our test cricket has been very good and right now I think we have to focus on the longer version of the game as we are to play the West Indies in the Test matches firstly.”
He added that Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas had done an excellent job for the Sri Lankan team in spearheading the attack over the years and especially for the younger players coming up that they were the best persons to talk to about the game as they had a tremendous amount of experience.
“They both have always done their part in any game we’ve played and are probably looking to end this tour on a high note as it may be their last tour of the Caribbean.”
As with any batting team the senior players have to steady the ship for the younger players to progress and get runs on the board.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene being the senior batsmen will have to take the burden and the captain said they are quite happy to undertake the task.
“The Caribbean has been good to us and right now we are just looking to get used to the conditions so as to play challenging cricket. The past five years we have been trying to compete away from home because getting used to the different conditions, that has been our challenge and it is something we have to do every time we leave home.”
“The West Indians have some good prospects and are a good side; they are playing at home, so they have something to play for. They can beat any team in the world so we just have to be positive in our approach and not become complacent and that may lead us to the series win.”
The squad that arrived to play in the first Test is as follows: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Ishara Amerasinghe, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chamara Silva, Michael Vandort, Chanaka Welegedara, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Thilan Thushara,Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas,Malinda Warnapura, Farveez Maharoof. (KB)
