Series against England toughest on earth: Sri Lanka coach
May 25th, 2011 - 7:23 pm ICT by IANSLondon, May 25 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s coach Stuart Law has described their forthcoming Test series against England as the “toughest deal on the planet”.
The former Australian admits that England are the top Test team in the world following two years of consistent results.
“I have said openly, in the last 18 months England have been the best team in world cricket,” Law was quoted as saying in The Telegraph.
“They have beaten teams in their backyard, they’ve beaten teams away from home. They are well drilled and leave nothing to chance. We are preparing for them to be the toughest deal on the planet at this stage,” said Law, who hopes to be appointed Sri Lanka’s permanent head coach after this tour.
“We are not underestimating one facet of their game. People say certain areas of their batting line-up can be exposed, but we are not seeing it that way. We are just trying to plan for each batsman. We need to play good consistent cricket for five days, and if we can sniff a result we need to put a foot on the throat.”
The first Test begins at Cardiff Thursday.
Sri Lanka have started encouragingly with wins against Middlesex and the England Lions but suffered a blow when pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep was ruled out of the tour.
Sri Lanka are in a state of flux with a new captain in Tillakaratne Dilshan. The retirements of Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan add to the different look of this squad.
“If you understand what goes on in Sri Lanka cricket behind the scenes, you would be amazed at how well these guys actually play,” said Law.
“They have to put up with extra pressures whichever way they come. In the Malinga case, I knew he wasn’t too keen to play this Test series. He’s been playing IPL and has a degenerative knee problem and I was talking to the surgeon who looked after him a couple of years ago who was also treating Murali,” Law said.
“He said he was lucky to be walking around, let alone bowling. It’s a shame he’s not here and a shame Murali is not here. But it’s a great opportunity for some young gun to come in and have a great career for Sri Lanka.”
- We are not here to lose: Sri Lanka coach - May 17, 2011
- Sri Lankan cricketers will be monitored during England tour - May 18, 2011
- Law doesn't blame Malinga for choosing 'lucrative' IPL over Test cricket - Apr 30, 2011
- Malinga's decision to play in lucrative IPL, but not Tests 'awkward': Duleep Mendis - Apr 21, 2011
- Geoff Marsh ends IPL stint to coach Sri Lanka - Sep 23, 2011
- Malinga says 'quick' money not behind decision to quit Test cricket - Apr 27, 2011
- Stuart Law named Sri Lanka coach for tour of England - Apr 07, 2011
- Sri Lankan cricketers agree to return home early for England tour - Apr 20, 2011
- Malinga quits Test cricket to prolong ODI, T20 career - Apr 23, 2011
- Sri Lanka to end Pakistan's cricketing isolation with October series in country - Feb 25, 2011
- England paid the price for bullying India at home: Vaughan - Oct 27, 2011
- Muralitharan, Malinga make Sri Lanka our toughest opponent: Ponting - Mar 04, 2011
- Malinga retires from Tests to prolong international career - Apr 22, 2011
- Asia Cup: Eranga replaces Matthews in Sri Lanka squad - Mar 14, 2012
- Pakistan cricketers starts preparations for upcoming Sri Lanka tour - May 17, 2012
Tags: batsman, cardiff, coach london, consistent results, facet, first test, forthcoming test, head coach, ipl, knee problem, malinga, middlesex, pradeep, retirements, sri lanka cricket, state of flux, test series, test team, tour sri lanka, world cricket