Dhananjaya de Silva expressed that he would have preferred additional warm-up matches before Sri Lanka’s Test series against England, marking their first Test tour in the UK in eight years. Last week, Sri Lanka played a four-day warm-up match at New Road against an England Lions team, where they suffered a seven-wicket defeat after being bowled out for just 139 in their first innings.
Although Sri Lanka showed improvement in their second innings, they will head into the first Test in Manchester without further match practice. Dhananjaya acknowledged that the conditions in England are quite different from those in Asia, and while they had hoped for more matches, they had to make do with what was available. He mentioned that the warm-up game didn’t feature their full-strength team, as they were also trying out a few players. Despite the loss, he felt the preparation gained from the match would be beneficial.
Dhananjaya, who has successfully led Sri Lanka to victory in all three Tests he has captained so far, suggested that the packed schedule, due to this being Sri Lanka’s first three-match Test series since 2018, might have limited their opportunities for additional practice games. Nevertheless, he maintained that the team’s mindset was positive.
He mentioned that the reasons for not having another warm-up match were unclear to him, possibly due to the unusual length of the series. Despite the loss in the warm-up, he believed that the match served its purpose as a training opportunity, providing the necessary preparation. Dhananjaya also noted that with the likelihood of rain affecting the Test match in Manchester, the experience of the few seasoned players in the squad would be invaluable, and they have been sharing their knowledge with him.