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It’s all about building your inning
It was a satisfactory start for the Sri Lankans on their tour of England. It would probably be the easiest opposition they will encounter during the entire tour – the British Universities team. Nevertheless in unfamiliar conditions and an early season pitch the positives were many.

The batsmen are going to have a tougher task than the bowlers. During this period, late spring, the quicker bowlers will regularly gain assistance from the pitch during a long game. Not just on day one, even on days four and five.
Although out of match cricket for a while Chaminda Vaas got amongst wickets, bowled economically and had quite a long bowl in both innings of that opening game. So too was his partner Nuwan Zoysa who has got another opportunity to stage a comeback. His performance was also impressive. The conditions are ideal for this tall left armer and here is a golden opportunity which he must grab with both arms! Should he be able to bowl in the correct areas he should be able to trouble opposition batsmen throughout the tour.

Nuwan Kulasekera started off wicketless. It is going to be a major learning experience for him. The other quickies, Lasith Malinga, and Fervez Mahroof will also have to go through the same process. They must learn from every outing as that will be the key to this tour for them.

The spin department will be in the hands of Muttiah Muralitharan and Malinga Bandara. Muralitharan has heaps of experience playing in English conditions, having toured with Sri Lanka and also playing county cricket. Bandara too had half a season last year enjoying the task of being a county professional. In fact that spell helped greatly in resurrecting his career. The experience helped him grow in confidence and confidence is a huge part of leg spin bowling.
Bowlers depend on the support of the fielders, so catching in colder conditions will be very much part of the practice routines. The itinerary provides plenty of time to work on that aspect of the game and special emphasis must be paid as the hands “sting” when fielding in these conditions.

The biggest test will be for batsmen. Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya will be greatly missed. The opening partnership is such a valuable part in any team make up and Jayasuriya and Atapattu rank amongst the best there has ever been. They have collectively starred in something like one hundred and eighty eight test matches and amassed close on twelve thousand runs. There is no way of finding immediate replacements!

It provides a tremendous opportunity for three young players to cement a place in the side. Jehan Mubarak is the most experienced of the three and the player who has got the most opportunities in the past. He had a very good tour of Bangladesh with the ‘A’ Team recently. Could he have turned the corner? Time will tell.

There has been much criticism of the selectors for not giving Michael Van Dort more chances to prove himself. He has got the break, it’s all up to him now. To me Upul Tharanga who is the youngest of the trio, looks the front runner. He is the best organized, to fill into an opening berth. He has got off to a good start, becoming the first centurion on tour. Upul Tharanga must not look back.
For any batsman the early part of an innings is the difficult part.

The process of defending and attacking the ball becomes more familiar as more time is spent in the middle. All the batsmen who get up to twenty and thirty must go on to convert those scores into big innings. At least two of the top or middle order batsmen must target to score centuries every innings. That is the most vital requirement on this tour.

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