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Mendis confident world champs can pull it off again

Anyone planning to write off world one-day champions Sri Lanka from retaining the World Cup they won three years ago, beware.

The champs who took other countries by surprise with their successful style of pinch-hitting in the first 15 overs at the last World Cup, have one or two new innovations up their sleeve which they will be putting into practice during the warm-up games leading upto the World Cup lung opener against England at Lord's on May 14.

``We have a few surprises up our sleeve which we hope to put into operation in England. It may work out to our advantage or it may not. But you've always got to have new ideas,'' said a confident manager Duleep Mendis on the eve of his team's departure to England in the early hours of today.

The team is departing three weeks ahead of the competition proper to acclimatise themselves to the variable climate and pitches they will encounter at this time of the year in England. Sri Lanka will be initially based at Leicester till May 3 before they will be accepted officially and moved to their home county at Northampton where they will remain until the conclusion of the tournament.

The team will have a few nets at Leicester and play three practice matches against strong league sides. They also have three practice games against leading county sides after May 3, which according to Mendis will be quite sufficient.

``We have analysed where we went wrong in the last few tournaments. There are so many things we are thinking of doing. There may be a change in the batting order or the bowling line up. We will still use the pinch hitting tactic in the first 15 overs as our base, but we won't be solely dependent on it like in 1996,'' he said.

Mendis said the successful tour Sri Lanka had in England last year where they played at all their World Cup venues was a plus factor. Several new ideas had sprung up after the tour.

``When you have performed very well in a particular country you will always get back to that place with a lot of confidence,'' said Mendis.

``I am very confident the boys will come upto expectations. I was a bit worried about the fitness at the start of Sanath Jayasuriya and Muthiah Muralitharan, both of whom were after operations. But they are shaping up very well. With another few weeks to go I am sure by the time we come to the first week in May the team will reach the expected standards. They will be virtually at their peak. I am very confident that they will do well,'' said Mendis.

``They are putting more effort now than in 1996 because of the fact they have not been doing that well in the recent past. In 1996 we had a good Australian tour, and although we lost a few matches you could see the team was really coming up. I have been with this team for a long time and I know the changes, the way they think, the way they react,'' said Mendis, who managed the World Cup winning squad three years ago.

``The boys know they are the World Cup one-day champions and they want to retain that title. Only one country has been able to do that, West Indies. The recent defeats (15 losses out of 20 matches) have motivated the boys to do well and they are working towards that goal. I am sure every player in the team is keen to show that they are still the best in one-day cricket. It has really gone into them that they want to prove to the world that they are still the champions,'' he said.

To help the world champs overcome the deficiencies that has crept into their armoury, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board got down the services of two professionals, a motivator and a fielding coach.

Omar Shah whose services have been used by world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, top class athletes and kick boxers, worked with the team for three days found out what their problems were and talked to them to help them regain confidence.

``Omar concentrated basically on motivation. He left us with a few exerecises to put into practice before we really get into match situations. We will be doing that within the next few weeks,'' said Mendis.

``The team was low in morale and in confidence because they had lost a few matches. Mentally you have got to be very strong to overcome obstacles. Omar worked mainly with the mind and mentally he was trying to make them very hard so that they could overcome obstacles, gain confidence and go with a very positive frame of mind to any face situation.

``Competing at very high international levels you've got to be very strong inside. You may not be successful all the time. There are times you will fail, then you will have to overcome that. The entire team including the players and management were with Omar. We will try and help each other. Confidence is a great part in cricket, and it can either make or break you,'' said Mendis.

Former Australian cricketer Trevor Chappell has been working on the fielding with the national team and according to Mendis he has introduced new exercises and drills to improve the standard. Sri Lanka's fielding which was in the top bracket during the 1996 World Cup nosedived dramatically in the past eight months and that has contributed largely to the series of defeats.

``Today there are always new methods emerging to improve what you are already doing. Trevor is introducing various drills and exercises all related to the game and at the same time he is keeping the interest of the boys going because sometimes it can be very boring when your doing the same things.

``Basically all round, there is a lot of interest and enthusiasm shown by the boys that they want to do well.

What we are trying to do is to get to the maximum where the half chances are taken. It is very important in limited-over cricket that half chances should be taken early and this is exactly what we did in 1996. If that is done there won't be any big partnerships being formed and , the other side will find itself struggling. Fielding plays a major part in one-day cricket,'' said Mendis.

``It would be a very big morale booster if we can start the World Cup on a winning note. If we give it everything we have, we will win it. But even if you lose it doesn't mean the end of the world because there are some more matches,'' he said.

``A lot will depend on the conditions. When you are a professsional cricketer you have no excuses. You should be able to adjust youself according to the conditions and you can never turn around and say you didn't peform because it was too cold. You got to adopt and adjust yourself. You've got to perform to your maximum capability under any conditions''.

Mendis defended the criticism in including 11 of the 1996 World Cup winning team members in the present side.

``You've got to introduce youngsters systematically, and upto a certain extent we have done. I will not say that we have done it fully. We are not perfect, no one is perfect for that matter. Many commentators and writers comment after the event, whereas the selectors and the team are taking decisions before the event. They start criticising or praising someone after the event.

``We have tried some youngsters but they have not come upto the standard that we have wanted. So we had to fall back on the players whom we think will perform in a major tournament like this. Take Pakistan for instance, can anyone say they didn't try youngsters.

They did try, but coming into the World Cup the players they have picked are Salim Malik, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed. These are tested and proven quality players. The West Indies are another good example. Going into a major tournament you need that little bit of experience,'' he said.

Sri Lanka are drawn in Group 'A' which apart from hosts England comprises South Africa, India, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The first three teams in the group will qualify to play in the Super Six after which the top four teams will play in the knockout stages - the semi-finals and final. The final is scheduled at Lord's on June 20.

FOLLOW THE WORLD CHAMPS IN ENGLAND

WARM-UP MATCHES April 28 v Leicestershire Club League XI at Leicester April 30 v Hinckley Town CC at Leicester May 2 v Board President's XI at Leicester May 7 v Northamptonshire at Northampton May 9 v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge May 11 v Leicestershire at Leicester WORLD CUP MATCHES (GROUP 'A') May 14 v England at Lord's May 19 v South Africa at Northampton May 22 v Zimbabwe at Worcester May 26 v India at Taunton May 30 v Kenya at Southampton SUPER SIX June 4 A-2 v B-2 at The Oval June 5 A1- v B-1 at Trent Bridge June 6 A-3 v B-3 at Headingley June 8 A-2 v B-1 at Old Trafford June 10 A-1 v B-3 at Edgbaston June 11 A-3 v B-1 at The Oval June 12 A-2 v B-3 at Trent Bridge June 13 A-1 v B-2 at Headingley SEMI-FINALS June 16 Semi-final I at Old Trafford June 17 Semi-final II at Edgbaston FINAL June 20 Final at Lord's.