COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – Following defeats in their last three series, stand-in head coach Jerome Jayaratne said he has urged Sri Lanka to use the West Indies tour to begin their turnaround in form.
Sri Lanka were swept 2-0 in New Zealand at the start of the year, were beaten 2-1 by Pakistan at home in June/July before going down 2-1 to India in August.
Head coach, former Test batsman Marvin Atapattu, quit following the India series prompting Sri Lanka Cricket to appoint Jayaratne, who was previously head of coaching, on an interim basis.
Jayaratne said he had spoken to the players about expectations during the two-Test series against West Indies and was looking for a response.
“I would like to believe that we have a better chance of getting back to winning ways but I definitely won’t underestimate them (Windies),” Jayaratne said.
“We’ve done a bit of research on the West Indies and know our line of attack. They are an unknown quantity in the sense something of a mix with some known players like (Kemar) Roach, (Darren) Bravo and (Denesh) Ramdin coupled with a few new faces.
“They did well against England at home and had some decent performances.”
Sri Lanka have been significantly weakened by the recent retirements of batting legends, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom amassed over 11 000 Test runs in their respective careers.
All-rounder Angelo Mathews, who averages 52 with the bat after 52 Tests, has led the team for the last two years and is expected to mould a team around the likes of vice- captain Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Silva and Dinesh Chandimal.
Jayaratne said the side was aware of his expectations and believes positive results in the series against West Indies will do wonders for their confidence.
“I spoke to all of them individually before they went to the nets. We got a good feedback. They were well disciplined and they accepted they had fallen behind in performance and had two bad series,” said Jayaratne.
“All are aware of what is expected of them. We had lengthy discussions and they are aware where we need to get to. Despite the rain which held us back for about a week we have made good progress.”
He added: “We can do all the preparations but its up to the boys to go out there and execute it, that’s the final nail on the head. I feel they are a bit up to it this time. They’ve worked very hard and I feel they will put on a very good show.
“If we can have a couple of good days early in the series the confidence will start to come back.”
The first Test bowls off next Thursday in Galle.
