Murali declared fit, to bolster Sri Lanka

Murali declared fit, to bolster Sri Lanka

The lanky Zoysa is fighting to get fit after a bout of influenza which has struck him down for the past four days. If he fails to pull through, young Dilhara Fernando will be preferred.

"Muralitharan is the best bowler we have, has been for many years now and he will be a key man in this series. He has to play and the support bowlers have to back him up well," said Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya.

"We have to really look after Murali during this series. We cannot lose him because he is the match winning bowler for us," he told AFP.

Turning his attention on the Test series, Jayasuriya said: "we are confident, but you cannot take any series lightly. England have improved, they have come with a plan and we will have to play some really tough cricket."

"We want to make sure that we play as a team and I need the full support of all the players.

"England are playing well at the moment and must be very confident having won the series in Pakistan. Whether they are yet to get used to these sub-continent conditions, I am not sure. It will be tough for them," he said.

"You cannot underestimate the English bowlers. I expect them to bowl one line and be accurate all the time. I think we will have to be very patient if we are going to get a lot of runs," Jayasuriya said.

His opposite number Nasser Hussain said the task ahead of his team in Sri Lanka was going to be tougher than in Pakistan and getting a result will be more rewarding.

"To win out here would be a great achievement. We have already seen how talented they are. I am not looking at the end result, that is miles away. We can't look far ahead," said Hussain.

"We are confident, having won three series on the trot, but we are also realistic. We know what is ahead of us. There is no kidding each other. I will make it crystal clear at the team meeting that it is going to be very difficult."

"I think this is going to be a result game and I think that if we play good cricket like we did in Pakistan we will beat them," he said.

Hussain said the team wouldn't be known until the morning of the match although he had in mind pretty well what it would be like.

The England captain knows the biggest threat to his team is Muralitharan who destroyed their batting at the oval three years ago with a match bag of 16 wickets.

"Obviously he is a big threat and we feel we have to see him out. There are different ways of seeing him off. I think he is going to get wickets, he has done throughout his career, we just have to make sure that he has to bowl a hell of a lot for them," said Hussain.

Despite the intermittent rains experienced over the past few days, it was bright and sunny today and the weather report is for five clear bright days.

Interest in the series has been increased with thousands of British supporters of the England team having flown to this historic venue which has the Portuguese and Dutch fort built nearly 400 years ago as the backdrop to the venue.

TEAMS: Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvanat Apattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Dilhara Fernando, Dinuk Hettiarachchi.

England (from): nasser hussain (captain), Michaelatherton, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe, Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Michael Vaughan, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Robert Croft, Darren Gough, Andy Caddick.

Umpires:Peter Manuel (Sri Lanka) and A V Jayaprakash (India), TV umpire: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Match referee: Hanumant Singh (India).

Security alert for Galle Test

Sri Lanka's intelligence services have warned of possible attempts by Sinhala hardliners to disrupt the country's first Test against England beginning at Galle tomorrow to protest Britain's reluctance to ban LTTE, a press report said here today.

Quoting unnamed sources, the `Daily Mirror' said police had been put on high alert to prevent such attempts and would crackdown on any unruly behaviour at the Galle International Stadium.

The armed forces will join police security personnel for implementing tight regulations on entry into the stadium, anticipating possible attempts to gain international attention because of the presence of over 70 media personnel from Britain and other cricketing nations, it said.

England captain Nasser Hussain was quoted as telling the media at Galle that he was concerned about "security threats" but they were not new to his team as it had faced similar situations in Pakistan and South Africa.