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Following the completion of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, Sri Lanka head coach, Sanath Jayasuriya, praised the Kiwis’ approach towards the game during the recently concluded white-ball series. With a 2-0 series win in the ODIs against New Zealand, Sri Lanka continued their unbeaten march at home where the side has secured wins over India, New Zealand, and West Indies across formats in recent months. There is especially encouraging news in the Test arena.

Given their win in The Oval Test in England and a 2-0 series victory over New Zealand at home, Sri Lanka are in third place on the ICC World Test Championship standings and have a good chance of making it to the next year’s final at Lord’s, should they give encouraging performances against South Africa in South Africa and against Australia at home. This would be Sri Lanka’s first-ever appearance in the final.

A number of Sri Lanka’s red-ball players are already in South Africa for the all-important Test series, but the side retained Test squad members Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, and Asitha Fernando for the limited-overs contest against New Zealand.

The four were eventually rested for the final ODI after Sri Lanka had secured the series after winning the first two games.

For Sri Lanka head coach Sanath Jayasuriya, these selection calls are part of a balancing act, which ensures that the side continues their winning run while providing adequate rest before the crucial upcoming red-ball contests.

“We were discussing all these options, but we wanted to do well, even in Sri Lanka with the ODIs and T20s. we can’t take things for granted even with this New Zealand team. Yes, some of their players didn’t come but they have a good team. They played good cricket here,” Jayasuriya said as quoted by the ICC.

Jayasuriya then explained the call to rest the four for the final game, while also acknowledging that the batters will have a short time to adjust for the upcoming red-ball challenge.

“So that is why we give some of them to rest on the last game – to come back to Colombo, rest and then go to South Africa. Some of the players may have to adjust themselves as quickly as possible to the situation. So Kamindu, Pathum, Kusal Mendis, those three players need to adjust themselves according to the situations, red-ball and white-ball,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s first Test against South Africa commences on 27 November. The island nation will look to add to its previous three Test wins in South Africa, two of which came in a historic series win in 2019.

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Sanath Jayasuriya is poised to have his contract as the head coach of the Sri Lanka men’s cricket team extended for another year, following a successful interim period marked by notable victories. Since taking over in early July, Jayasuriya has led the team to a series win against India in ODIs, a Test victory at The Oval, and another Test win in Galle against New Zealand. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had advertised for a permanent head coach following Chris Silverwood’s departure in late June.

However, with the significant improvements observed under Jayasuriya’s leadership, the board is now moving towards securing him on a long-term basis.

“We are in the final stages of negotiating the contract with him,” said SLC CEO Ashley de Silva to ESPNcricinfo.

“Probably in the next two or three days you will hear more,” he added, as per quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Initially appointed as a cricket consultant in December last year, Jayasuriya’s role was primarily focused on working with the High Performance Centre. His involvement with the national team increased when he travelled with them to the T20 World Cup and subsequently took on the interim head coach role.

Despite a T20I series loss to India and two Test defeats in England, Jayasuriya’s tenure has been marked by more successes than setbacks.

Under his guidance, Sri Lanka is now contending for a place in the World Test Championship final, and his potential new contract will see the team through the current championship cycle.

According to ESPNcricinfo, players’ feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with veteran Angelo Mathews describing Jayasuriya’s impact as a “turning point” for the team.

“Sanath Jayasuriya was superb as cricket director and now as coach,” Mathews said, as per quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

“He communicates well and has given us a lot of freedom. We are all working towards one goal, and now everyone is on the same page. He’s also done a superb job grooming the players. He has been amazing. I wish him all the very best,” he added.

Previously serving as chief selector in two separate stints over the past decade, Jayasuriya’s earlier tenures were marked by mixed results.

However, his current assignment has brought more stability and progress to the Sri Lankan team.

England head into the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford starting Wednesday with several players given a chance to prove a point after captain Ben Stokes‘s series-ending injury. Star all-rounder Stokes is set to play no part at all in the three-match contest after tearing his hamstring during the Hundred. And that means England will be without their inspirational leader for the first time since Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum launched the team’s dynamic ‘Bazball’ era two years ago.

Ollie Pope, the England vice-captain, will now skipper the side even though he has led county team Surrey in just one first-class match.

England announced their team on Monday, with fast bowler Matthew Potts recalled as they opted for a five-man attack.

Meanwhile, Dan Lawrence — rarely deployed as an opener in county cricket — returns to the England side for the first time in two-and-a-half years after Zak Crawley‘s fractured finger created a vacancy at the top of the order.

Crawley suffered his setback as England completed a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies last month.

England will be expected to achieve a similar result against a Sri Lanka side who, like the West Indies, have played just a solitary warm-up match prior to the first Test.

Conventional cricket wisdom has rarely been a part of England’s approach under the guidance of former New Zealand captain McCullum, so it should come as no surprise they have opted against replacing Crawley with a specialist opener.

Indeed Lawrence himself is in no doubt his natural attacking game is well-suited to the approach of the current England set-up.

“I think that’s the style of cricketer that Baz McCullum and Ben Stokes are generally after and my general way of going about it is to try and be quite aggressive,” Lawrence said Monday.

“Throughout my whole career I’ve played a certain brand of cricket and that has served me well so I’m just going to do the same thing. I’m just going to go out there and try to be as free as possible.”

Experience

Sri Lanka can no longer call on star batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but their squad does contain experienced performers in Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne.

Dhananjaya de Silva‘s side will, however, be able to turn to another Sri Lanka great in Sanath Jayasuriya, the squad’s interim coach, who took over after Chris Silverwood, the ex-England paceman, opted against renewing his contract in June.

And former England batsman Ian Bell, also a member of the backroom staff, is on hand to provide local knowledge for what is Sri Lanka’s first series on English soil in eight years.

Sri Lanka last played Test cricket in April but they do have recent experience of upsetting the odds after defeating India 2-0 in a three-match one-day international series earlier this month.

“We have an experienced batting order,” Jayasuriya, a dynamic batsman who pulverised England attacks in all formats, told ESPNCricinfo.

“Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal — they have all played a lot of cricket.”

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s first Test in England, a match where Sidath Wettimuny made a superb 190 — one of several hundreds for the tourists — in a highly creditable draw at Lord’s.

And Jayasuriya believes the timing of the current campaign could favour Sri Lanka.

“The fact that we have got a late-summer tour is great,” he said. “It’s more similar to our conditions than the early summer tours.”

Sanath Jayasuriya, the interim Sri Lanka men’s head coach, believes the Test team set to play three games against England in the latter half of the summer is a great opportunity, citing the conditions will suit the visitors. Sri Lanka starts their Test series against England on August 21 at Old Trafford in Manchester. “The fact that we have got a late-summer tour is great, because the wickets have been used a lot, and there’s more sunshine at this time of year. It’s more similar to our conditions than the early summer tours. I have made sure the players know it’s a great opportunity,” Jayasuriya told ESPNCricinfo.

With many players touring England for the first time for the longer format, Jayasuriya stated about ensuring the Sri Lankan players are in the right mindset before the series begins. “I want to make sure there is that hunger. 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.”

In his six Tests in England, Jayasuriya scored 421 runs at an average of 42.1, with his best knock being 213 coming at the Oval in 1998. With Sri Lanka having the services of Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, who were members of the Test series-winning team in England in 2014, Jayasuriya wants other batters to be flexible in their batting approach.

“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 are placed in fourth position on the World Test Championships standings, with a point percentage of 50% while England are in seventh place with 36.54%. Jayasuriya signed off by saying Sri Lanka have bowling plans to counter England’s aggressive style of batting.

“It’s in the first ten overs that there will be the most pressure I think. If you look historically, they have been attacking in the first ten overs and getting runs on the board quickly. We have got some plans to counter that. And we know this is how they will play.”

“We have to bowl in the right places, and if they hit the good balls, that’s okay. We need to identify the right lengths given the conditions. There will be times when we need to cover the areas of the field where they are attacking, to cut down the boundaries.”

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