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| Sunday, 23 February 2003 |
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Lanka cricketers practice amid strict security : Gunaratne shows signs of recovery Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from South Africa & Kenya NAIROBI, Kenya, February 22 - Having received a welcome reception fit enough for a head of state when they arrived here on Friday, the Sri Lankan cricketers got down to the main task of preparing themselves for their World Cup Group 'B' match against Kenya at the Gymkhana Club here today. The match against Kenya is on Monday. The most pleasing aspect of today's practice was that fast bowler Pulasthi Gunaratne was able to turn his arm over for the first time since getting it injured during the game against New Zealand, 12 days ago. Gunaratne is recovering from a fractured right index finger when he hit his hand on the ground while fielding against New Zealand. His real test will come tomorrow when he will actually try to bowl from his normal run up. Sri Lanka team manager Ajith Jayasekera said that they were hopeful that Gunaratne will come through after the Sri Lanka Cricket Board had turned down their request for a standby player who could be drafted in as a replacement for Gunaratne, lest he fails to come through a fitness test. The team management is trying to get Gunaratne fit for the important game against the West Indies on February 28 at Cape Town. The weather here is hot and similar to what Sri Lanka had been experiencing in South Africa. But the humidity level is very low which makes it far more comfortable than at home. Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore said the pitches cannot be much different to South Africa because of the hot weather and, he expected it to be on the slow side with a little bit of turn. That kind of pitch is certain to suit the Sri Lankans who will be playing in conditions closer to home. Whatmore rated the Kenyan side as the better team of the minor nations and said they cannot be treated lightly. "Their batting is better than their bowling. We've just got to be equal to the task," he said. "We've seen them recently and they've got some reasonable performances, particular with the bat. (Ravindu) Shah and (Steve) Tikolo are good players with one or two others chipping in. "We have been able to knock over the previous two sides easily. I am not sure whether it will be easy in this one. The boys have to be switched on," he said. Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by ten wickets and Canada by nine wickets with both games hardly going the distance. "With three wins under our belt, we are on top of the log. We've got a healthy run rate. The feeling in the team is good and we want to keep the ball rolling," said Whatmore. He said the one thing which is a worry is that the middle-order has not got a chance to bat in the last two games. "That's one thing that I am a little bit concerned. Even number three is not getting a proper hit," he said. The Sri Lankan team were accorded a colourful welcome from a troop of traditional dancers and a leopard brought by courtesy of the Kenyan Wildlife Services which gave them a friendly purr on arrival. More than the warm welcome was the strict security blanket thrown around the team. The team left in a convoy of over 15 vehicles with all other traffic coming to a halt. There was a bomb sniffer dog too and, wherever they travelled (even when they practiced) there was a surveillance police aircraft hovering above. The tight security has been put in place following a bombing in Mombasa in November, approximately 500 kilometres from here, which killed 16 people. New Zealand, one of the team's in Group B had refused to travel to Nairobi for their World Cup fixture as a result of the bombing and have forfeited four points to Kenya. Nairobi was to host two World Cup games, but they will have the opportunity of holding only one - against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya said that Sri Lanka were obliged to honour their fixture against Kenya because they (Kenya) had similarly honoured a fixture against Sri Lanka in Kandy during the 1996 World Cup, when Australia and West Indies had refused to come due to the internal strife. On that occasion Sri Lanka recorded a world record, record total in one-day internationals by scoring 398/5. |
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