Sanath Jayasuriya, the interim Sri Lanka men’s head coach, believes the Test team set to play three games against England in the latter half of the summer is a great opportunity, citing the conditions will suit the visitors. Sri Lanka starts their Test series against England on August 21 at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Sri Lanka National Cricket Team interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya shared his thoughts on the Bazball style of cricket that the England National Cricket Team started playing in Test format under head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes. With many players touring England for the first time for the longer format, Jayasuriya stated about ensuring the Sri Lankan players are in the right mindset before the series begins.
England’s Bazball technique brings in attacking brand of cricket in Test cricket.
The attacking brand of cricket in the purest form of cricket has brought England a significant amount of success, but the team has also been at the receiving end of criticism from former players as well as the experts.
Under the leadership of Ben Stokes, the Three Lions recently whitewashed the West Indies at home. However, Stokes will be missing the next assignment of England, which is a three-match Test series against Sri Lanka due to an injury he picked up while playing in The Hundred 2024.
Even in the absence of Stokes from playing XI, England are expected to continue with their aggressive approach and they will aim to register yet another series win.
The series opening clash be played from Wednesday, August 21, in Manchester and the second Test is scheduled to be hosted by Lord’s from Thursday, August 29. The third and final Test is set to be played from Friday, September 6, at The Oval.
Sri Lanka have a poor record in the Test series in England, having won just one series, which came way back in 2014. And with the aggressive England coming out all guns blazing, things might not be easier for the Lankan Lions.
Sanath Jayasuriya, however, isn’t worried about this. When asked about the Bazball in interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Sanath Jayasuriya stated that Sri Lanka used to play with the same approach in the past and there is nothing new to it. Sanath Jayasuriya went on to say that Bazball is nothing more than a thing hyped by the media.
Sanath Jayasuriya says ‘we have had Bazball in the past ahead of 1st Test vs England
Sri Lanka’s interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya has shared his perspective on the term ‘Bazball’ ahead of the Test series against England, which begins on August 21 in Manchester. Sanath Jayasuriya opined that such an aggressive approach existed also during their playing days but suggested that the media publicity around Bazball is on a different level.
Since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as England’s Test coach and captain, respectively, they have adopted an aggressive style of play. The summer of 2022 is prominently remembered for three consecutive wins chasing over 250 successfully, including 378 against India at Edgbaston.
In his six Tests in England, Sanath Jayasuriya scored 421 runs at an average of 42.1, with his best knock being 213 coming at the Oval in 1998. With Sri Lanka having the services of Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, who were members of the Test series-winning team in England in 2014, Jayasuriya wants other batters to be flexible in their batting approach.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Sanath Jayasuriya recalled how the Australian pair of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist also played ‘Bazball’ style during his playing days. He said:
“You get various styles depending on the time. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did it too during our time. This is something similar to what we have had in the past. There has just been some media publicity that this is something new. They try to play attacking cricket from the outset, but the end goal is to get to those totals of 300 or 400.”
Talking about the upcoming series, the 55-year-old reckons restricting English batters in the first ten overs will be critical and the bowlers must bowl in the right areas.
“It’s in the first ten overs that there will be the most pressure, I think. If you look historically, they have been attacking in that first ten overs and getting runs on the board quickly.
“We have got some plans to counter that. And we know this is how they will play. We have to bowl in the right places, and if they hit the good balls, that’s okay. We need to identify the right lengths given the conditions.”
The regime of Stokes and McCullum suffered their first series loss to India earlier this year. With McCullum underlining the need to refine ‘Bazball’, England did it successfully, beating the West Indies 3-0.
Sanath Jayasuriya asks Sri Lanka batters to be responsible in the series vs England
Sanath Jayasuriya feels Sri Lanka’s strength is their experienced batting unit but stressed that the batters must play big innings if they get their eye in. He explained:
“We have an experienced batting order. Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal – they have all played a lot of cricket.
“We have the personnel there but we need to fight hard. If you play six or seven batters, only two or three will perform for sure. If they get a start, they need to play big innings. They know they have that responsibility on challenging wickets.”
The ex-opener and captain also suggested that Sri Lankan players must relish the opportunity to play three Tests in a series alongside preparing for the impending challenges during the tour. He added:
“I want to make sure there is that hunger. Playing three Tests like this, this is not an opportunity you will get easily again. So we have to take it while we can. Scoring runs here is challenging, because even if the pitches are flat, the ball can still start swinging, or seaming. We have to know how to adjust to that.”
Sri Lanka won their first and only series in England in 2014. Sri Lanka are placed in fourth position on the World Test Championships standings, with a point percentage of 50% while England are in seventh place with 36.54%.