Mathews looks to bowlers for inspiration against Windies

West Indies Captain Jason Holder addressing the media

Interim Head Coach Jerome Jayaratne (L) with Sri Lanka Captain Angelo Mathews at the press briefing

By Madushka Balasuriya

Sri Lankan hopes will be pinned on their bowling unit for the upcoming Sobers-Tissera Test series against the West Indies, with recent performances giving Angelo Mathews cause for optimism.

“If the bowlers continue to bowl the way they have done in the recent past I think we can put a lot of pressure on the Windies batsmen,” said the Sri Lankan skipper at a press conference in Colombo yesterday.

Mathews was referring in particular to the Sri Lankan quicks who picked up 29 wickets between them in their Test series defeat to India, and have spearheaded a Sri Lankan attack usually more reliant on spin, with Dhammika Prasad in particular impressing. The batting unit however, has not been nearly as consistent and Mathews is hoping to see an improvement soon.

“I think the whole bowling unit has done extremely well in the past year, it’s just the batting that hasn’t clicked as much. Hopefully we can rectify that this series.”

The upcoming home series against the West Indies will also be the first in the post-Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene era, which will see a gaping hole in the middle order that Mathews says he’d be willing to fill by moving up the order if needed.

“It all depends on the team’s needs, it doesn’t really matter if I bat higher up the order or at four or five, as long I score runs and do my job for the team. So it doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t really affect me. As long as the team wants me to do a job, regardless of my position I’ll be up for it.”

The West Indies will begin their 44-day tour – which includes two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is – with a three-day practice match against the Sri Lanka Cricket Board President’s XI at the SSC starting tomorrow. This will be the only match they will be involved in prior to the first Test in Galle on 14 October; not ideal preparation by any means but something made even more challenging by the suspension of Coach Phil Simmons for comments he made about outside influences on the selection process.

Captain Jason Holder, when questioned on team morale following yet another fiasco involving the West Indies’ backroom setup, towed the diplomatic line.

“The comments made by Phil were by Phil, at the end of the day I can’t comment on those things. It’s between him and the board. The only thing you can control is the cricket and that’s what we came here to do,” said Holder. He however expressed hope that the situation would be resolved quickly.

“No doubt it’s a bit of a setback for us but at this present stage all we can do is focus on cricket. I just hope that this situation with him [Simmons] is solved quickly, because we’d love to have him back; he’s been a wonderful inspiration to our team thus far.

“But it’s about playing good cricket. This is a very young group, and there are a lot of guys looking to make their mark in Test cricket,” he added.

Pix by Krishan Ranasinghe