The Sri Lankan Cricket Board have hurriedly sent extra ground covers to the Asgiriya stadium, where international matches in the past have been washed out.

The last Test played here was in August 1994, when Sri Lanka were thrashed by Pakistan in under three days, rain helping fast bowlers like Waqar Younis.

The outfield and bowlers' run-ups were soggy over the weekend and groundstaff have been working overtime to prepare the ground. The weather forecast is for occasional thundery showers in this central region.

An official said yesterday that the wicket would be all right for the start today but the outfield could create some problems.

The official added that he thought the strip may produce good bounce and favour the faster bowlers.

Sri Lanka are looking at the possibility of playing three fast bowlers Chaminda Vaas, Sajeewa de Silva and Ravindra Pushpakumara. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, are expected to name their team after inspecting the wicket.

Zimbabwe (from): *A D R Campbell, -A Flower, G W Flower, G Rennie, M Goodwin, C B Wishart, G J Whittall, H H Streak, P A Strang, A R Whittall, A Huckle, B C Strang, M Mbangwa, E Matambandzo, H Olonga, J Rennie.

Sri Lanka (from) *A Ranatunga, P A de Silva, S T Jayasuriya, -R S Kaluwitharana, R S Mahanama, M S Atapattu, H D P K Dharmasena, M Muralitharan, C Vaas, S de Silva, R Pushpakumara, K J Silva, R Arnold, H P Tillekeratne.