Sri Lanka’s interim coach Sanath Jayasuriya urged the team to show “hunger” in the three-Test series against England which is set to begin on August 21.
The Test matches will be played as part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 and both teams will give their all. Sri Lanka are placed fourth on the WTC points table with 50 PCT while England are ranked sixth with 36.54 PCT.
Jayasuriya, in a conversation with ESPN Cricinfo, stated that he wanted to make sure that the players have the right mindset before the series begins.
“I want to make sure there is that hunger,” Jayasuriya said while stressing the importance of the upcoming series. “Playing three Tests like this is not an opportunity you will get easily again.
“So, we have to take it while we can. Scoring runs here is challenging, because even if the pitches are flat, the ball can still start swinging, or seaming. We have to know how to adjust to that.”
Jayasuriya, during his days as a player, played six Tests in England where he scored 421 runs at an average of 42.1. The former batter’s best of 213 runs also came at The Oval in 1998.
“We have the personnel there, but we need to fight hard. If you play six or seven batters, only two or three will perform for sure. If they get a start they need to play big innings.
“They know they have that responsibility on challenging wickets. Everyone should play their natural game, but once you get that start, there are places where you need to break things down a little, and either bat quickly, or slow down for a bit.
“When the ball gets older, it can still seam here, which is the uniqueness of the Duke ball.”
Sri Lanka is yet to name their playing XI for the first Test against England.
England XI: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vc), Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
