"I want to target everyone"

[Mr. Wicket]

Dilhara Fernando has promised that he and his fellow Sri Lankan pace bowlers will give the Australian batsmen "something special" in the two-Test series this November. The side's pace attack, traditionally a weakness, is at its strongest ever and Fernando believes Sri Lanka have their best chance yet to win a Test in Australia. "I think we have a good pace attack, especially (Lasith) Malinga, myself and Vaasy (Chaminda Vaas)," he said after a practice session in Adelaide ahead of the first warm-up on Saturday. "We've got a good balanced attack so we can give them something special. "I think we've got good variation - swing, pace, bounce. We've got everything. This is our best chance to beat Australia, so I think we can beat them." Kumar Sangakkara, the vice-captain, has an interesting take on how Sri Lanka's fast bowlers have improved: courtesy of a one-day innovation. "The PowerPlay rule coming into one-day cricket has helped us quite a lot in developing a pace attack. "Earlier we used to [only] play a couple of pacers. I've been in Test matches when we've played one fast bowler when we play at home but now we've got three or four really great bowlers and really good support bowlers as well to come in. That's where we've been going right in the past two years." Fernando is looking forward to the pacy tracks, and explains that the team has a simple strategy for winning. "Everyone wants to hit the deck hard so I think we can get good pace and bounce and get the wickets. We all know Australians are very good at pulling short balls, so we want to just do the basics, put the ball in the right area." When asked if there was anyone in particular he would be targetting, he broke into a broad beam and said: "I just want to target everyone!" Nevertheless, he says "it's a dream come true" to play in Australia. "I've waited seven long years to play against Australia. It's a great opportunity for me. I think we can give them a good battle. I am used to playing against big teams. I think we can do it. With Murali there's a big confidence. I think we can beat them."

And then there's this piece from Sangakkara - http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/extracover/content/current/story/316844.html Great stuff! Glad to see Sri Lanka firing a few volleys here before they tour - too many teams tour Australia all ready to go on the defensive, but if Sri Lanka can back up their aggressive verbals with a similar approach on the field, the series could be great to watch.

[Ram]

The Sril Lankan series will give us a good idea on the strenghts and weaknesses on the Aussie team post Mcgrath-Warne-Langer-Martyn. Their batting is still their strongest point with Hayden , Ponting , Clarke, Symonds , Hussey and Gilchrist but it will be interesting to see how their bowling shapes up. Sri Lanka will test Australia for sure. And its no wonder that this time , you have many Lankans coming out in the open and openly saying that they have what it takes to beat Australia. I am keenly looking forward to see how this series shapes up to get some trends/prediction for our series.

[Tapioca]

Glad to see Sri Lanka firing a few volleys here before they tour

But once the match begins, Fernando will be firing half volleys.

[Mr. Wicket]

Very true. I would have been pleasantly surprised had he said that he would be targeting a certain good length area on the pitch.

[DesiChap]

But once the match begins' date=' Fernando will be firing half volleys.[/quote'] :haha: True. I do not see SL winning any tests. I expect a 2-0 whitewash. Hopefully SL can be competetive.

[gs]

:haha: True. I do not see SL winning any tests. I expect a 2-0 whitewash. Hopefully SL can be competetive.

I dont know. If Malinga/Dilhara's pace fails, Murali and Co. can tie the Aussie batsmen in knots!:hatsoff:

[Ram]

Just like Inzamam's farwell spoilt any chance of Pakistan's comeback in the recent test series against the Saffies, i expect Attapattu's forced inclusion to also upset the team's balance. He has been out of the team for quite long , for obvious reasons of lack of runs/form. Now he has been selected in the squad , which means he will play in the team as there wouldnt be any point of selecting him in the first place if he didnt play. Jayasuriya has a traditional vulnerability against pace bowling, Attapattu also seems to have become brittle. I think the Aussie pace line-up will run through the Lankan batting order.

[The Outsider]

Aaj kal har koi nishanchi ho gaya hai.