We can handle England assault: Sri Lanka

London, April 22:

Sri Lanka believe they can succeed where Australia failed last summer by spiking the guns of England’s pace attack in the forthcoming Test series.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene insists his teammates will not be pounded into submission by Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard during the tour which takes in three Tests, a Twenty20 international and a triangular one-day series.

“You will start talking about the ball moving and all that,” said Jayawardene. “But we shouldn’t worry about that. In England you have some of the best batting wickets which I have batted on.”

“It’s all about how you go there and adjust, and how you apply yourself — it is as simple as that. We did that very well in Australia and proved that we can handle pace, bounce and movement.” The first Test begins at Lord’s on May 11.