Collingwood admits spin hope

1 October 2007

Paul Collingwood faces Ryan Sidebottom in the nets in Sri Lanka © Getty Images

England captain Paul Collingwood says he hopes his side's intense preparation against spin will pay off in the five-match series against Sri Lanka as they attempt to end a 25-year losing run.

Since winning their inaugural one-day match in Sri Lanka back in 1982, England have lost the next seven completed one-day internationals on the island, including two 10 wicket defeats.

But a week of determined practice against spin - traditionally their big weakness in one-day cricket during the middle overs - has given England confidence they can finally compete against Sri Lanka in their own conditions.

“I’ve told the guys to believe we can come out here and win,” explained captain Paul Collingwood.

“You can come out to these places and you’re already beaten before you go out on the park.

“There is a lot of belief in that dressing room, we have improved and so far we’ve done a lot of good things in our one-day cricket and we believe we can come out here and do well.

“I think the guys have got the skills, but it’s all about using those skills at the right times.”

Paul Collingwood says Muttiah Muralitharan's likely absence is a "bonus" © Getty Images

England’s hopes of ending a run of just one win over Sri Lanka in their last eight one-day internationals at home and abroad could hinge on the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan from their line-up.

Muralitharan is still recovering from a bicep injury he sustained on Lancashire duty this summer and has already been ruled out of the first three matches in the five-match series.

The England captain admitted the absence of Sri Lanka's premier spinner will be of benefit to England's hopes of ending their 25-year losing run.

“It’s obviously a bonus if he’s not playing, but the main thing is that we’ve prepared as if he is playing," Collingwood said.

“Our preparation has been fantastic and we’ve had a good week here now, played on turning wickets during our practice sessions and we’ve found out our scoring areas.

“It’s certainly part of the game we’ve been looking at, keeping our intent during the middle part of the innings because sometimes you can come out to places like this and it can be very difficult with all the spinners that you face.”

Sri Lanka believe that even without Muralitharan, who has claimed a staggering 455 one-day international wickets during his career, they have enough strength in depth to maintain their winning run against England.

“It doesn’t make that big a difference,” said captain Mahela Jayawardene.

“We’ve done it in the past and our guys are capable of handling different situations.

“Murali is obviously a fantastic bowler to have in your team. He’s a match winner but we have to change our gameplan to suit what we’ve got.

“We’ve toured without Murali and done well and we played without him for almost a year when he had a shoulder problem - when our guys are pushed to the limit we tend to come back strongly and hopefully that will be the case again.”

Recent history, particularly against England, suggests that Jayawardene does have a point.

Sri Lanka claimed a 5-0 whitewash on English soil just over a year ago despite Muralitharan missing the last three matches in that series.