Date-stamped : 18 Nov95 - 06:31
Thursday 16, November 1995

Paceman Vaas ready to lead Lankan attack

Sri Lanka`s No. 1 pace bowler Chaminda Vaas  has  said  that  the
medical  attention  he  received in Australia, has enabled him to
overcome his back injury.

In an interview in Brisbane, the ace Lankan left arm paceman Vaas
said  that  he is confident that he can give out his best on fast
Australian wickets. He said that their early arrival helped   him
to  get  the  best medical attention to the injury and to get ad-
justed to the conditions there, along with fellow paceman Manjula
Munasinghe.  The two pacemen were sent to Australia on November 3
to get treatment for their injuries.  They  are  being   attended
to by medical experts in Sydney. The two pace bowlers will be fit
to play in the one day game against  Tasmania  to  be  played  in
Hobart on November 29.

Sri Lanka cricketers leave brimming with confidence

Sri Lanka cricketers left in the early hours of Wednesday  on  an
arduous    tour   `down  under`  which  skipper  Arjuna Ranatunga
described as `the toughest tour for  the  past  two years`.   The
tough tour against the high riding Aussies who drubbed the Pakis-
tanis by an innings in the first Test on Monday, was observed  by
skipper  Arjuna  Ranatunga  as "an important tour for us to prove
that we are presently second to none in Test or one-day cricket".

"If the Aussies happen to win the Test and one-day series against
the  Pakistanis,  our  series  against them should be undoubtedly
crucial and exciting too. We will not take any game lightly   but
will  be playing positively and we are determined to outclass the
Aussies who are labelling  themselves  as  the unofficial   world
champions,   on  their  home  soil",the optimistic  skipper  said
minutes before the team left the Bandaranaike International  Air-
port.  The  team  left on Cathay Pacific Airlines to Hong Kong to
take a connecting flight to Brisbane and will fly  to  Queensland
to play their first match, a 50-overs game against the state side
Cairns on Sunday.

Source :: Lanka Internet Services

<END> Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@*.umass.edu)