Ford looks for silver linings at Champions Trophy

Sri Lanka Cricket Caption Angelo Mathews takes a selfie with the team - Pic by Daminda Harsha Perera

By Madushka Balasuriya

After a less than stellar 2016/2017 season Sri Lanka are firm underdogs to merely get out of their Champions Trophy group, let alone win it, but Head Coach Graham Ford was keen to focus on the positives ahead of next month’s tournament in England as he addressed the media yesterday.

Sri Lanka in the last year have lost away series to both England and South Africa in all three formats, while at home, despite handing Australia a 3-0 Test whitewash, lost both the ODI and T20 series to the same side. A young Sri Lankan outfit then triumphed in Zimbabwe and in a three-match T20 series in Australia, but drew one apiece in all three formats at home against Bangladesh.

Speaking last evening a day ahead of the team flying out to England, Ford felt this mixed bag of results was a blessing in disguise for his young team. 

“I think because of our slightly up and down year we’ve been able to really identify areas that we need to improve on, weak areas. I know that lads are very determined to improve in those areas, and if we do get those weak areas right we will become extremely competitive.”

Team preparation

A major reason for Sri Lanka’s poor showing over the last year, especially in the shorter formats of the game, has been their borderline abysmal fielding. Many a time dropped catches have seen potential game changing moments turn into mere post-match footnotes. However, over the past two weeks the team has been working hard in an intensive training program, including a boot camp in Kandy. Ford has been impressed by what he has seen from his young guard and when asked as to what Sri Lanka’s ace-in-the-hole might be come June, Ford surprisingly named the side’s work in the field as possible.

“I was going to throw in fielding but you all might start laughing. But we’ve certainly done a lot of hard work on our fielding so hopefully that’s going stand up well. I want to commend the players on their work - they have had quite a tough time of it in the last three weeks or so, yet they have at no stage taken their foot off the pedal in terms of preparation. 

“The fighting spirit that our players show is the most impressive in world cricket, and I know that they’re going to go there and give everything that they can.”

Angelo Mathews, who is now back to full fitness, also spoke of the “intensity” that his side had shown in training over the past couple of weeks.

“The intensity and the attitude of the whole team was brilliant, and I’m extremely happy with the way we practised. Next 12 to 14 days will also be very important, especially acclimatising in England. I’m sure the whole team will gear up and work extremely hard for the next two weeks, so that we are prepared for South Africa,” said the Sri Lankan skipper.

Apart from the fielding, Sri Lanka’s batsmen have also been guilty at times of not converting promising starts, while the bowling department has been bereft of their fast-bowling talisman in Lasith Malinga. Malinga has been working his way up to full fitness in the IPL though it is still unknown whether he will be capable of completing 10 overs in a full 50-over contest. Ford however is hopeful that his star bowler, along with fellow veteran Nuwan Kulasekera, will give Sri Lanka the edge they need against quality opposition.“If we get the old guard of Malinga and Kulasekera firing with their skills at the end of the innings that probably takes 20-25 runs off the oppositions score as well. A combination of finishing the innings well with the ball and of course being able to set ourselves up with the bat probably the two areas that we can really make a difference in.”

Handling expectations 

Thilanga Sumathipala meanwhile was far more brazen in his optimism surrounding Sri Lanka’s chances; citing the effort and money that has been put into supporting the team he set his sights on the top prize.

“We are ready for a big game and a big tour and we are very confident. It’s not just the feeling that we should win, we are Sri Lankan we should win. We have all the reasons to believe that. We have outstanding, talented cricketers who can conquer and win the Champions Trophy,” the SLC President enthused.

“We have got the best supporting staff, we’ve got the best of facilities, we believe we have provided the best for our national team. We are making every endeavour and every effort to make sure that the team is comfortable and at the highest level of confidence and training, where their performance levels can be second to none and we can expect them to perform at the top level.”

Ford however was quick to temper those expectations. With Sri Lanka set to face South Africa, India and Pakistan in their Champions Trophy group, Ford was aware that everything would have to go his side’s way if Sri Lanka were to progress.

“A lot has been said about the fact that we are confident and that we can go and win this tournament - and that we certainly can do - but I think we’ve got to be realistic and accept that we go into this tournament as underdogs. But sometimes that’s a wonderful place to be.

“For the teams that have had successful years, some of the teams that we’re going to play against, the danger for them is that they can drop their guard a little bit, they can think that everything is going swimmingly well and not really focus on areas that they need to improve on.”Sri Lanka take on South Africa in their opening match on 3 June at the Kennington Oval.