Sri Lankans rise above the conflict

Derek Pringle on why England should not underestimate their World Cup opponents

For a small strife-torn island off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka certainly packs an almighty punch on the cricket field. Apart from setting new benchmarks for 50-over scores, they have proved to be sparkling role models for the smaller teams like Kenya and the Netherlands, showing them exactly what standards can be achieved in a very short space of time.

Minnows themselves when the first World Cup was played in 1975, they have since become the most talked-about team in the tournament. Not bad for a country that only had "Test" status bestowed upon them by the International Cricket Council in 1981. Yet, despite their perceived callowness, Sri Lanka have been thinking big for some time, recently approaching Ian Botham to become their coach.

When he declined, they asked Allan Border but, when he too proved unavailable, they settled for another Australian, the Victorian Test player, Dave Whatmore.

Colombo-born but raised in Australia, Whatmore began to hone both their cricket and their competitive edge. It is an appointment that has clearly paid dividends, with Sri Lanka winning not only their first Test abroad, but their first series too, soundly beating Pakistan 2-1 last October.

An abundance of talent has never been Sri Lanka's problem. Their cricket has been intermittently held back by the kind of internal bickering that makes the politics within Pakistani cricket seem positively acquiescent by comparison.

Who but Sri Lanka could go backwards after Siddath Wettimuny's double century had so boldly announced their arrival at Lord's in 1984, and the late 1980s were as bleak on the cricket field as they were on the island's battlefields. The civil war most recently saw the withdrawal of both Australia and the West Indies from their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, after a massive car bomb exploded in Colombo.

However, with Duleep Mendis once more installed as team manager to quell the off-field disputes, Sri Lanka have once more cast off their rookie status. In fact their captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, is the longest- serving Test player in the World Cup, and their current one-day experience far exceeds England's, with six of their players able to claim over a hundred caps to their name. As Ranatunga himself recently said: "We can beat any Test nation in the one-day game."

The primary reason for that stems from the fearless strokeplay of their batsmen which, despite the brilliance of their fielding, is often at full stretch to make up for the deficiencies in the bowling department - which, like England's, is steady rather than spectacular.

Mind you, the discovery of Chaminda Vaas, a left-arm opening bowler, has reduced their reliance upon spin which is just as well, considering their leading spinner and sole Tamil, the seemingly treble-jointed Muttiah Muralitharan, has had question marks raised over the legitimacy of his action.

Vaas can swing the ball both ways at a brisk enough pace to cause problems and many thought him the best pace bowler on either side, in the recent series against Australia.

There is no doubt they are a talented team and a major one-day force. Before the current tournament, Sri Lanka had lost 20 of their 26 World Cup matches since 1975. If they can win three more, starting with the game on Saturday, their status as minnows will be forgotten forever.