by Dhammika Ratnaweera
Muttiah Muralitharan is fully fit for the World Cup matches according to team physiotherapist Alex Kontouri said Lanka’s Team Manager Ajith Jayasekera.

Jayasekera told the Sunday Island in Melbourne that our boys got the much needed experience in the VB tri series in preparation for the world cup. Which has been an important factor.

Jayasekera added that our boys experienced a poor beginning in the first leg of the VB series and were also bundled out for a meagre 65 runs by Australia ‘A’ at Adelaide. But they rallied in the second leg with skipper Jayasuriya leading the way to win at Adelaide and twice at Sydney. Our team later almost won at Brisbane and finally lost by a narrow margin at Adelaide which cost us our chances in the best of three finals against Australia.

The manager also added that our success in the second leg was mainly due to the roles played by veteran Aravinda de Silva and Muralitharan.

"Our pacemen performed creditably on the fast and bouncy Australian pitches. But once again it was the bowling of no balls and wides that caused our downfall. Dilhara Fernando was the key defaulter and he will have to overcome that discrepancy if we are to do well in the world cup" added Jayasekera.

The manager also commented that Jayasuriya showed good leadership. But selecting a team was the sole responsibility of the selecters. Wicket keeper, batsman Kaluwitharana was omitted from the World Cup squad as he failed to impress in the first leg of the VB series. At the same time there were several youngsters in the party and those who did not get a chance of exposing their ability had to be given the opportunity by being played in some matches.

Young paceman Chamila Gamage who joined the squad in last two games bowled very well and will be the find stand-by player for the World Cup.

In conclusion Jayasekera said that our boys had performed well on the fast Australian tracks and we hope for the best to happen in the World Cup.