Jayasuriya unhappy with Sri Lanka’s Cup build-up

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya has said that he is not satisfied with the national team’s preparations for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“I am not very happy the way things are going out there in New Zealand,” Jayasuriya said after Sri Lanka suffered their fourth defeat of the seven-match ODI series against the hosts in Dunedin.
“There are areas to be improved and in the next few weeks I hope we can sort them out. There are aspects to improve every day. The only good thing is that we are playing in New Zealand and against the same opposition we will meet in our opening match of the World Cup.
“It’s a good advantage for us to play here in these conditions which are tough. We have almost two months here playing Tests and ODIs to settle down and to play against the same country is a big advantage.”
One of the problem areas is the bowling department that has been leaking runs constantly after putting the opposition under pressure. Sri Lanka have allowed New Zealand to recover and win from positions of 101 for 5 and 93 for 5.
“The bowling department is an area of concern. They need to plan for things they should do when it comes to a crunch situation.
“We lack experience in our bowling at the moment in the absence of Lasith Malinga which is huge. (Nuwan) Kulasekera and (Suranga) Lakmal have come back from injuries and are bowling alright.”
The reassuring news for Sri Lanka is that Malinga is showing signs of recovering and being fit for the World Cup.
“Lasith started to bowl about 30 balls yesterday and today also he was bowling. He has shown no signs of discomfort and he will be increasing his workload gradually.”