England captain Nasser Hussain admitted that everyone had underestimated Sri Lanka and that there was a lot of hard work ahead of his team for the rest of the Test series.
"This game has just shown how much of hardwork we've got ahead of us, especially against this opposition. I think everyone's underestimated them and they keep notching up 500s. That goes to show just how much of hard work we've got a head of us," said Hussain at a press conference held at the end of the first cricket Test which ended in a draw at Lord's here yesterday.
Sri Lanka scored 555 for 8 declared and 42 for one wicket. England replied with 275 and 529 for 5 declared.
"On Test wickets against these batsmen you need to put six balls in the right area all the time, and we didn't do that. It's got nothing to do with match practice. All our bowlers bowled more than the Sri Lankan bowlers had. One thing they didn't do not due to lack of practice or not being ready is, they didn't show the discipline that is needed. It was shown by the Sri Lankan side. They were bowling just outside off stump and we didn't do that," he said.
"We have to work out how we are going to get 20 wickets on flat Test wickets like this. There is a difference on a flat wicket at Lord's and a flat wicket in the subcontinent where you are going to get turn and the spinner gives you something to look forward to. Playing a spinner at Lord's would have given you absolutely nothing in this game. The ball didn't turn at all. In fact Aravinda (de Silva) was going past the outside edge more than the inside edge," Hussain said.
The England captain admitted that his team did not perform well on the first three days of the Test, but was very pleased the way they came back on the final two days.
"We were fairly innocuous with the ball for two days and dropped some catches. To be 275 all out on a flat track against Sri Lanka without (Muttiah) Muralitharan was not good enough. We didn't play particularly well on the first three days, whereas Sri Lanka did exceptionally. I think we showed a bit of character and a bit of fight on the last two days.
Everything I asked for and the coach asked for and, the boys asked for themselves came right. There weren't a great number of wicket-taking balls around but it was not easy at all because there were not many run scoring opportunities. It took real dedication and discipline from our batting. Batting with discipline on these wickets is what is all about.
There was talk of pride and the players put it right," said Hussain. Although he was pleased with England's second innings performance Hussain said it didn't mean that his side went to Edgbaston for the second Test starting on May 30 holding the upperhand.
Hussain's counterpart Sanath Jayasuriya said that he was happy with the overall performance of his team.
"Everything went as we planned although we could not get England out a second time. If Murali was in the side it may have been different. You never know," said Jayasuriya.
"I am happy the way we played. We are going to Edgbaston with a lot of confidence. I am not surprised at our performance because all the batsmen got runs ahead of the Test series. They've been in good form. The only problem we had was with our bowlers who did not have much bowling practice," he said.
Jayasuriya said that he was not disappointed that Sri Lanka's winning sequence of nine wins in a row had ended. "As long as we are doing well that is what matters," he said.
When questioned whether he was overcautious not attacking the English batsmen on the final day, Jayasuriya replied: "We had a plan not to give too many runs to England and we played according to that plan. I would have been happy if we could have won, but I don't mind a draw". Jayasuriya described the Lord's pitch as the one of the best wickets he had played on. "You can keep going on and on. It is the best wicket we had got on the tour," he said.
He said he didn't open in the Sri Lanka second innings because he had damaged ligaments in his hand, which he hurt while fielding and did not want to take a risk. He said the he would be fit for the second Test starting in nine days time.
Jayasuriya said that Muralitharan would not play in the 4-day game against Glamorgan starting at Cardiff on Thursday because he is currently undergoing physiotherapy for his injured left arm. However he said that fast bowler Dilhara Fernando who has recovered
from a stress fracture injury in his back would play.
© CricInfo
| Teams | England, Sri Lanka. |
| Players/Umpires | Nasser Hussain, Aravinda De Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Dilhara Fernando. |
| Tours | Sri Lanka in England |
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