da bet vitoria： Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s gloriously combustible opening batsman, hasvowed to back his natural instincts and continue a high-risk strategy ofall-out attack against the new ball during the World Cup
Charlie Austin31-Jan-2003Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s gloriously combustible opening batsman, hasvowed to back his natural instincts and continue a high-risk strategy ofall-out attack against the new ball during the World Cup.During the recent tours to South Africa and Australia the 33-year-oldleft-hander had concentrated on survival during the first 15 overs of theinnings as he grappled with unfamiliar conditions.© ReutersBut Jayasuriya, a mild-mannered Buddhist with an instinctive urge to dominate who took the 1996 World Cup by storm with his audacious early over assaults, struggled in defensive mode.After successful tournaments in Morocco and at the ICC Champions Trophy inColombo, his form plummeted. Nine ODIs passed without a single fifty, abarren run for an opener that has scored 15 centuries and 52 fifties in his287-match ODI career.The suitability of his technique to the fast, bouncy pitches thatpredominate in Australia and South Africa was openly doubted and there waseven consideration that he slip back down into the middle order.With the side losing and his consensual leadership style also attractinggrowing criticism, Jayasuriya was under mounting pressure.© CricInfo”I was not desperate but it was very disappointing,” revealed Jayasuriyaafter his return to Colombo. “We were all mentally down, especially afterthat game against Australia A when we were bowled out for 65 – it was onlynatural to be so.”But Jayasuriya, like a weary gambler tossing his last chips onto the table,decided the time had come for a change in strategy in the second part of theVB tri-series, joking before Sri Lanka’s match against Australia at Sydneythat he was going in for “a bit of a slog”.”In the first few games we were concerned about adapting to conditions andnot losing too many wickets in the first 15 overs,” he says. “That didn’twork for us. I was not getting runs and I was not playing my natural game.”He rode his luck early on against the unusually butter-fingered Australiansbut was soon unstoppable as he rushed to a match-winning hundred. Anotherton followed in the next game. Sri Lanka’s World Cup hopes had beenrevitalised.”All it needed was one person to score a hundred,” said Jayasuriya. “Marvan(Atapattu) and I did that at Sydney and things changed. We started to scoreruns and the confidence returned at the right time for South Africa.”Jayasuriya is now upbeat about Sri Lanka’s chances. With the distracting paydispute with the Sri Lanka cricket board also now resolved the focus is SriLanka’s opening game.© CricInfo”The NZ match is a key game for us,” he says. “We must not put ourselvesunder pressure. We must treat it like any other international game and not aWorld Cup game. We have to all play our natural games.”On song, with the likes of Jayasuriya and star spinner Muttiah Muralitharanin their ranks, Sri Lanka can blow aside any opponent, a fact acknowledgedby the Australians whose preference for facing England in the VB Seriesfinal was clear.”If we click then we can beat anyone and change the whole system,” saysJayasuriya. “But the important thing is consistency for us – we need tocontinue performing throughout the tournament.”But Jayasuriya has asked his players to forget thoughts of lifting thetrophy for now: “Our first priority is to get through the preliminary roundand I have asked the boys to concentrate that. Once we have got through thatwe can think of the next step.”