Beware Malinga warns Birt

Travis Birt impressed for Derbyshire against the Sri Lankans © Getty Images

England will need to be wary of the threat posed by Lasith Malinga as well as Muttiah Muralitharan when their Test series against Sri Lanka begins in May.

That free advice comes courtesy of a player who on Sunday mastered both the great off-spinner and the young fast bowler as Derbyshire raced to 208 for four in their second innings against the tourists.

Australian left-hander Travis Birt fell cheaply to Malinga in the first innings at the Racecourse Ground - but he put that experience to great effect with a blistering 53-ball 83 second time round.

Even so, he acknowledges Malinga’s slingy pace can easily shock any unsuspecting batsman.

“He’s a difficult character to deal with. No-one has seen a lot of him, and he could surprise a lot of batsmen first up,” said Birt, who dominated a second-wicket stand of 126 with Chris Taylor (53) as the hosts moved 261 runs in front.

“But it’s like any first-time bowler; the more you get in, the more you feel comfortable facing him.

“He’s taken 50 Test wickets in his 15 Tests so far, so obviously he can bowl a bit.”

Birt did not waste any time paying Murali too much respect either, taking two fours and a six from the first three balls he bowled.

As for the remainder of the Sri Lanka attack on show in this second tour match of their English summer, Birt also appeared to have their measure.

“I saw a bit of (Farveez) Maharoof on the TV in Australia when he was playing in the one-dayers there,” he recalled.

“They have a steady attack which surrounds (Chaminda) Vaas and Muralitharan.

“They’re two world-class bowlers, so other blokes have to fill the void and do the job.

“From what I’ve seen here - I’m sure there’ll be a bit more carry in the Test wickets than there is in this pitch - they have one or two decent performers.”

For Birt, though, the key was seeing off Malinga and Murali.

He explained: “Malinga was coming at me, so I was ready to counter-attack.

“I started to pick Muralitharan a little bit. It was a bit like with Malinga; you start to get used to what is going on.

“I was just pretty keen to keep the momentum we had going. We’re trying to get a result here and set a match up.”

Birt nonetheless expects Murali - with more than 1,000 international wickets under his belt already in a world-beating career - to once again have a big summer.

“Obviously he is a great bowler and he is still going to take a lot of Test wickets,” he predicted.