Champions Trophy is on my mind - Moody

By Ranjan Anandappa

Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody talking to the media at the SLC Headquarters prior to the departure to India for the Champions Trophy said that his main focus and concentration lies here in Sri Lanka and this Champions Trophy is the most important thing on his mind and has very little distractions with regard to that.

The former Australian opener and the present Sri Lankan coach dispelled any speculations of taking up the coaching job of Australia which falls vacant after the 2007 World Cup.

“I was just answering a few questions with regard to that but I have no contact”, he said.

He said that the Sri Lankan team is in a completely different mental, technical, and physical state of mind than what they were twelve months ago and that won’t be a huge issue, may be while confronting India or any other team as long as we executive our game as best as possible, and as long as we do that well the results will take care of it self.

“At the beginning of any competition that we are going into we should go in confidence.

You know, what gives me the confidence is the preparations, the improvement of the individuals in the team and improvement of the side in general.
One step at a time that is to qualify, then we’ll reset our targets and goals and I am confident that we could be playing towards the end of the competition, as we can get past the first hurdle and play some solid cricket.

“Playing in the qualifiers will give us plenty of opportunities to play and perform well in Indian conditions.

The conditions over their is a little bit different to what we see here, not hugely different, so it gives us an opportunity to play some good cricket and get the momentum and hopefully have a successful qualifying period and take that momentum into the body of the competition.”

He said the wickets could be even slower than here in Sri Lanka and from the bowling point of view it can be harder work as there is smaller margin for error and unless your line and length is absolutely right the ball can disappear over.

All our bowlers have discussed this and have worked hard on trying to make sure to face these conditions.

The team: Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), Kumar Sangakkara (Vice Captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Upul Tharanga, T.M.Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Ruchira Perera, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Malinga Bandara, Muttiah Muralitharan.
Manager: Michael Tissera, Coach: Tom Moody, Assistant Coach: Trevor Penny, Physiotherapist: Tommy Simsek, Trainer: C.J.Clark, Computer Analyst: Nalin de Alwis, Masseur: Lal Thamel. The teams are divided into two groups with England, Australia, India and the qualifying team number 2 in group ‘A’. South Africa, Pakistan, New Zealand and the qualifying team number one in group ‘B’.

Match schedule

All matches are day/night affairs

October 7: Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh at Mohali, October 8: West Indies Vs Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad, October 10: Sri Lanka Vs Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad, October 11: West Indies Vs Bangladesh at Jaipur, October 13: Bangladesh Vs Zimbabwe at Jaipur, October 14: Sri Lanka Vs West Indies at Mumbai.

Champions Trophy

October 15: India Vs England at Jaipur, October 16: New Zealand Vs South Africa at Mumbai, October 17: Pakistan Vs Qualifier 1 at Jaipur, October 18: Australia Vs Q2 at Mumbai, October 20: New Zealand Vs Q1 at Mumbai, October 21: England Vs Australia at Jaipur, October 24: South Africa Vs Q1 at Ahmedabad, October 25: New Zealand Vs Pakistan at Mohali, October 26: India Vs Q2 at Ahmedabad, October 27: Pakistan Vs South Africa at Mohali, October 28: England Vs Q2 at Ahmedabad, October 29: India Vs Australia at Mohali, November 1: First semi final at Mohali, November 2: Second semi final at Jaipur, November 5: Final at Mumbai.