da lvbet： The Sri Lankan team is now enjoying a well-earned break before we startpreparation for the forthcoming tri-nation series in Sharjah and West Indiestour of Sri Lanka in November
Dav Whatmore13-Sep-2001The Sri Lankan team is now enjoying a well-earned break before we startpreparation for the forthcoming tri-nation series in Sharjah and West Indiestour of Sri Lanka in November. It allows for a moments reflection andlooking back over the last three months (including the pre-seriespreparation) I have identified three areas in which the team has progressed.Dav Whatmore
National CoachFirst and foremost the team has gained invaluable experience of playingunder the new six batsmen-fast bowler focused formation pursued by thenational selectors, designed to lead to greater competitiveness overseas,even if the actual surfaces during the Test matches were a shade dryer thanexpected.They is still plenty of learning ahead of course but, wherever possible, weshould aim to maintain our winning streak whilst at the same time improvingthe way we perform under the modified formation. The two goals of immediatesuccess and long-term development are not easy to balance all the time, butthe more often they are fused the better.It has not been easy for the batsmen at times, but I believe they ultimatelygained greater confidence of playing on previously foreign surfaces,particularly in the run-up to the India series, when we practiced on netsurfaces with a full covering of grass, where the ball frequently jagged offthe seam. In the short term the batsmen may lose some confidence, but thelong-term benefits make this worthwhile.The objective was simple: we want the batsmen to learn how to survive inconditions where the ball is darting around. The key to this is not playingat the ball away from the body. Playing and missing is fine, but you mustnot follow the ball. Survival against the moving ball requires a morecompact technique and the more practice the players have under thoseconditions the better they will become.The second area of progress has been the growing realisation that thebatsmen must not relax once they have made a good start. We have talkedabout it many of times before, as does every team at every level, but duringthe final SSC Test against India the immense value of placing a higherpremium on your wicket was graphically illustrated to the team.If you throw your wicket away after a solid start it can have a verydestructive effect. Look at the dismissal of Shiv Das in the first innings,who had batted so well in the morning, but gave his wicket away shortlyafter reaching his fifty, which then precipitated a dramatic first inningscollapse. On the other hand we capitalised on our good starts, four batsmenscored hundreds and the result was over 600 runs.The third aspect of our performance that impressed me was the fast bowlingon a dead SSC pitch. There was very little encouragement for the bowlers,which means that they have to concentrate on applying pressure by bowlingaccurately and keeping the runs down. It’s a heartless process that requiresplenty of guts and determination by each member of the bowling attack. Ifyou are able to maintain the pressure, though, then someone will invariablycash in and take some wickets.We need the fast bowlers to get used to this attritional and disciplinedform of attack because this can be a common feature of Test cricketoverseas, where the ball is not always boomeranging around. Sometimes youjust have to sit in and slowly apply pressure. We did this well at SSC andwill have to do so more often if we are to win consistently.It’s not only the batsmen who learn from playing on livelier surfaces, asthe bowlers too have to adapt their length to different conditions. If youlook back at the South African tour we tended to bowl slightly too short ofa length, which gives batsmen enough time to adjust to the movement off thepitch and through the air. To get edges overseas you generally need to bowla fuller length and our fast bowlers need to practice bowling this length.So, all in all, plenty of positives came out of the series, in addition tothe successful result itself. We now have to build on this progress over thecoming weeks, when we will be focusing hard on our skills with specialistassistance from Barry Richard (batting), Darrel Foster (fast bowling) andPeter Philpot (spin bowling).