Sri Lanka wary of McGrath

E-mail this Article

Print this Article

Subscribe to RSS Feed

Jayawardene - wary of McGrath threat.

By David Clough, PA Sport, Bridgetown

Mahela Jayawardene went into today's World Cup final rightly confident but also wary of the wall-to-wall Australian talent in opposition.

In a line-up demanding Sri Lankan respect, Jayawardene gave special mention to two highly-experienced bowlers - most notably perhaps pace evergreen Glenn McGrath, who will finally consent to retire tonight after bidding to help Australia to an unprecedented third consecutive World Cup win.

Jayawardene must also blunt the threat posed by left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg - at 36 just 12 months younger than McGrath but a vastly-improved bowler in his later years.

Hogg's expertly-disguised googly has seen off a series of world-class batsmen, including Jayawardene, among 20 victims in the Caribbean over the past seven weeks.

The Sri Lanka captain is determined to try to set that record straight - although it is most likely he will renew acquaintance first with McGrath.

"He is a brilliant competitor, and it's always a challenge facing him - because he's always asking you questions," Jayawardene said of the most successful bowler in this competition's history.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed it, and I reckon any other batsman in the world would say the same.

"It is a great occasion for all of us to play in his last game, the World Cup final."

As for Hogg, Jayawardene has a new plan for himself and his team.

"I picked him for nine overs - I just missed one, which got me out," he said of the googly which turned past a bat angled towards leg and resulted in his stumping in Sri Lanka's seven-wicket defeat against the Aussies in Grenada two weeks ago.

"It's going to be a great challenge against someone who has improved a lot as a bowler - and it's the sort of challenge our guys enjoy.

"Surrounded by a few other attacking bowlers, he can be a handful."

Even so, Jayawardene believes Sri Lanka can cope with Hogg - in the right circumstances.

"In a different situation we probably would have played him differently," he said.

"In that game we had to play him conservatively. But we play spin pretty well and know how to attack - something we didn't do last time around.

"If the opportunity is there this time, if we have wickets in hand we will approach him differently."

Success in that area of a fascinating final in prospect at the Kensington Oval could go some way to helping Sri Lanka overturn the odds against the hot favourites.

Should that happen, they would be winning this competition for the second time - a major achievement for a country who first made the world take notice with their shock maiden victory in 1996.

Jayawardene was a schoolboy rushing back from an important match of his own to watch that final against Australia - and for him it will always be the watershed moment in his country's cricket history.

"Sri Lankan cricket has come a long way - before 1996 we were like amateurs," he said.

"The guys had to work till five o'clock before practising - and they went through a lot of hardship.

"That 1996 group who won the World Cup changed the whole concept of Sri Lankan cricket.

"We've done a lot of hard work to make sure we've sustained that; we're heading in the right direction but still need to work hard."