Deputy Minister of Samurdhi, Youth Affairs and Sports Jeevan Kumaranatunga and officials of the Sports Ministry and officials of the Board of Control for Cricket, fathers, mothers of cricketers and a host of well-wishers were present at the Bandaranaike International Airport to welcome the team back.
Ranatunga said that the win in the Test match was something that he and the team wanted to achieve. After winning the World Cup, to win a Test in England was something that all wanted to achieve and we got it,'' a happy and contented Sri Lanka skipper said that the press conference held at the Bandaranaike International Airport's VIP Lounge last morning.
He said that one of his last ambitions in his cricket career was to win a Test in England and I was thrilled and it made all Sri Lankans at home and even in England and say we want more Test matches against England in England,'' said Ranatunga.
The Sri Lanka skipper said that he was not bothered at all at the remarks made by England coach David Lloyd about Muralitharan. ``We were keen on correcting our defects and not bothered about our oppositions bowlers arms, legs etc. Actually speaking, Muralitharan was determined to do better and he did just that in England's second innings.
``Muralitharan is not merely a top-class bowler. He is an unbelievable bowler who is found one in 100 years or so. It was important that we had him on our side and we needed him to get wickets and he provided us the results,'' quipped Ranatunga.
Started badly
Ranatunga said that though they started the tour on a somewhat badly; losing a county game in two days, it gave the team added vigour and happy team spirit prevailed and players were seen helping each other and this helped the do well after doing badly in the first game.
In the Test, Arjuna Ranatunga surprised many critics when he won the toss and put England to bat. He defended his decision and said it was a collective decision of the team. ``First the senior players decided and then the whole team took the decision that we should play to our strength rather than put it to other issues and were proved right.'' Arjuna said.
``Of the young players, Ranatunga was particularly happy with the performance of young Suresh Perera whose bowling improved. Pramodya Wickremasinghe kept it tight, then Kumara Dharmasena kept the runs down and let Muralitharan take the wickets. Sanath too bowled well. It was a collective effort put in by the other so that Murali was able to take the wickets,'' was how Sri Lanka got the wickets Ranatunga said.
Well timed
He said that Sanath Jayasuriya had an unhappy time at the start, but he peaked at the correct time and the double century in the Test gave back his confidence. Aravinda de Silva also reached at the correct time and scored well.
Ranatunga said that many people didn't give a chance to the team against England on their conditions. We won the one-day tourney and the Test and in the all-important game, the English public were coming to see us bat rather than see their own team bat - that could be seen from the crowds present at the Test match.
The Sri Lanka skipper Ranatunga said that he was particularly impressed with the performance of young keeper Prasanna Jayawardena. He is one of the best keepers we have had for a long time since Mahes Gunatilleke. There was a dark period when Sri Lanka didn't have a second keeper to Kaluwitharana, but Jayawardena has filled that void now.
``The batting of Mahela Jayawardena was good, then Russel Arnold is another player for the future, observed Ranatunga.
Asked about the World Cup tournament in England next year, Ranatunga warned against being too optimistic. ``There is a long way to go for the World Cup. We should be over-confident and think that we are simply going to win next year's World Cup. We have to make methodical preparations for it. We now know what sort of combination we need in England and must take note that we will be playing slightly earlier in wet conditions. We have a good team management and we will go towards that tournament in a methodical manner.