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Be prepared for England
By Ranil Abeynaike
"Fail to prepare then be prepared to fail" so the saying goes. The tour of the English team is now around the corner. The national squad is practicing and undergoing training which forms one part of the preparation. There is a whole lot more to be done, particularly as the players have had a long break.

In terms of match preparation, England will have had it much better when the series commences. They had a very competitive test series against South Africa at home. Good weather, good pitches, and absorbing cricket.

After a reasonable break they are now in Bangladesh. An ideal sparring contest before they arrive in Sri Lanka. In the opening 3 days of test cricket there they had not found their best form. Mind you, Bangladesh are now showing some improvement. They have learnt whilst on the job. Many players will therefore fall by the wayside. But at home, their confidence is now on the rise.

England continue to have 2 squads for the tests and one dayers. Those not involved in the limited over games against Bangladesh will have a break before the 3 tests in Sri Lanka. The one day squad will carry on and arrive in Sri Lanka having flexed their muscles against what should be weaker opposition. A good form of preparation for the tougher 2nd leg.

Adjusting to tropical conditions is not easy. The pitches, the light, the heat, the humidity, dust and the environment are all foreign. Having had previous experiences helps but all is still a shock to the system.

Much will be expected of the Englishmen after their performance in 2001. There was a result in every one of the 3 test matches and it was an awesome performance by Nassar Hussein's team to come back after being comprehensively beaten in the 1st game in Galle to win the next two. To the English man test cricket is what matters and this time too they will strive to clinch the series.

Whilst happy memories is a thing of the past, it will give the visitors confidence, in that they have done it before. Man - for - man England were stronger on the last occasion. They had experienced players and a balanced outfit with some talented youngsters filling the balance vacancies.

Their current leader, Michael Vaughn is still a new boy to captaincy. Experience, particularly amongst the bowlers is limited. It is bowlers who ultimately win matches, so Vaugh starts on a handicap. He must be pleased however, that Graham Thorpe has returned after a day off. And not just returned but with a bang scoring a century against the strong South African bowling attack, on his home ground, the Surrey Oval. He has followed that with a half century in the opening innings against Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka's teams will remain largely unchanged. The selectors have played safe by appointing the same 2 captains and a squad consisting of all the familiar names. They will definitely go out as favorites to win both the 1 day and test series. The experience that is packed into these players is immense. However, performance is what happens on the given day. Reputations do not matter.

Its John Dyson's maiden effort as coach. He will have to prepare his outfit to perform at best in all departments of the game and also withstand the mental challenges.

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