No big changes: Kirsten explains what went wrong for Sri Lanka in England

Sri Lanka head coach Gary Kirsten said he was reluctant to make major changes after the team lost its T20I series 3-0 and the ODI series 2-1 against England.

“I’m personally reluctant to make big changes because I want to develop the players we’ve got and that we selected as the best players currently,” Kirsten said.

He said Sri Lanka’s focus was on improving in Tests and ODIs while preparing for next year’s World Cup.

“My focus is not just looking at the series. My focus is: how do we prepare ourselves for the World Cup?” he said. “Obviously, we want to do well in Pakistan, but I want to be firing by the time we get to the World Cup next year.”

Kirsten said he was encouraged by the Test team’s progress, although Sri Lanka had yet to secure a significant win under his watch. He added that six Test matches remained until the middle of March and that the team had a busy ODI schedule ahead.

“I think once we get our shape right as an ODI team — how we want to play, who needs to do what and what roles everyone needs to be playing — I think we’ll be on our way,” he said.

Kirsten said he was pleased with the players selected for the recent T20I series, noting that they all had strike rates above 150. He also said young power hitters would be considered for future selections.

“If we’re picking Sri Lankan players to play for their country from our main domestic T20 competition, that’s not a bad thing,” he said.

He praised Sri Lanka’s ground fielding during the tour, singling out Pavan Rathnayake.

“I thought our ground fielding was outstanding. We put a lot of effort into eliminating unforced errors,” Kirsten said. “Pavan Rathnayake had an outstanding series with his fielding and he certainly set the tone for us.”

Sri Lanka had set targets for the tour but did not meet all of them, he said.

“They were very realistic things that we set out for ourselves, which we didn’t get to all of them,” Kirsten said. “For us to win series against a team like England, we need to reach all our goals on tour.”

He said the upcoming tri-series would provide another opportunity to improve, including two more matches against England.

“My real focus is what we do as a cricket team,” Kirsten said. “Can someone go and get 100 internationally, and can we get a big 120- or 130-run partnership every game? I think if we get our system and the way we want to play right, we’ll be competitive against any team.”

Kirsten praised debutant Sachindu Colombage, Dunith Wellalage and left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka for their performances during the series.

“I thought Sachindu did really well as he began his ODI career. That’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “Dunith did really well too. He showed what he’s capable of as an all-rounder, but I thought his bowling was fantastic.”

Kirsten said he was also encouraged by Madushanka’s ability to contribute across formats and wanted to help him develop further.

“I think Dilshan Madushanka showed us that he can be an all-format bowler. I’m quite excited by him as well and certainly want to develop him as we go along,” he said.

However, he said Sri Lanka’s batting had been disappointing, with the team failing to build momentum despite arriving early for the tour and playing two warm-up matches.

“We’ve got some senior players in the batting group and there’s a lot of experience there, so we just never got the batting going,” Kirsten said. “There’s a bit of work to be done. Hopefully, we can leave here having learned a lot about each individual and what they need to do to develop their game.” (Newswire)

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