Sri Lankan players given special fitness plans

• Individualised fitness plans given to each player
• Players asked to self-reflect and share their strengths and weaknesses 
• Arthur “happy” that players are buying into his structure and demands 
• Says T20 side needs “fine-tuning”

 By Madushka Balasuriya 

With the resumption of international sport one of the many unknowns since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the uncertainty has forced athletes to stay in good condition for whenever it is normality returns. For the members of the Sri Lankan national cricket team that has meant tailored fitness programs.

“The players all have individual fitness plans to keep them up to speed with their levels of fitness, these plans are tailored to the facilities that each player has at his disposal at home to maintain the expected fitness levels,” revealed Sri Lanka head coach Mickey Arthur in an interview with Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) media unit.

Throughout his career Arthur has been a stickler for fitness and fielding work, and prior to the break several Sri Lankan players had seen noticeable improvements in these areas - most notably the senior pair of Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera, who both lost close to 10kg in recent months. Mathews in particular has seen this newfound motivation solidify his place in the team, not just as a batsman but now as a genuine allrounder. For Arthur, these sort of improvements are expected, as he and his team look to limit players’ weaknesses while amplifying their strengths.

“Our trainers Dishan Foneska and Paul Khoury have been very proactive in working out the programs with each individual. I have been sending out exercises to each player as well based on the player reflecting and then sharing with me strengths and weaknesses of their games. These reflections are mental, physical and technical. This allows us as coaches to then add this to the player plans that we have constructed for each player.”

Arthur’s first three months in charge were a mixed bag, with a Test series defeat in Pakistan and a T20I series loss in India followed by a rather more successful home tour against the West Indies - winning the ODIs 3-0 but losing both T20Is. Sri Lanka were gearing up for a home Test series against England, when COVID-19 forced the tour to be postponed. That series will be held at a yet to be determined date in the future, but for Arthur, who had only taken up the national team reins in December, the prolonged break offers a chance to reflect on the work he’s been doing with the team.

“We have been very happy with the improvement and willingness from the players to buy into the structure, work ethic, levels of preparation and goals that we have set the team in all formats.

“This isolation period is giving us as coaching staff a time to reflect as well on the player plans, roles, and goals that we have set for ourselves as a group. We are also looking at trends from around the world and analysing all the opposition that we are going to play against over the next year. We as a group want to stay ahead of the pack and be the leaders, not the followers, in terms of coaching trends around the world.”

Arthur feels the ODI series against West Indies was “just reward” for the work put in by his players.

“The players got just reward for all the hard work that they had put into their preparation. The impressive thing for me was to see the players take on the brand that we want to play, and then the execution of their individual roles was very good. It just proves what can be achieved with planning, role clarity and belief.”

That said, he felt the subsequent T20I reverse highlighted the “fine-tuning” required in the shortest format of the game. In order to compete with teams that possess different skill sets, Arthur believes, the Sri Lankan team needs play to its strengths.

“Our T20 side is still going to take some fine-tuning and this was amplified against a very strong West Indies team that simply had too much power for us. I have been here before with the Pakistan T20 team and know what is needed. 

“I think the most important thing is building a method to win games based on the resources that you have at your disposal and then making sure that the players are under no illusion as to what that method is based on our strengths.”