New captain stays positive
Skipper Jayawardene is upbeat despite turbulence
Last Updated: February 9, 2012 9:55am
Mahela Jayawardene: upbeat about Sri Lanka's future
Newly appointed Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene is positive about his team's future despite the exit of both their ex-skipper and coach.
Jayawardene, named as the 2006 International Captain of the year, was re-appointed following the resignation of Tillakaratne Dilshan last month.
Dilshan paid the price for a calamitous tour of South Africa, as did Australian coach Geoff Marsh who was hastily sacked two days later.
Now an arduous two weeks has ended with a four-wicket tri-series loss for the new captain and his team to India in Perth on Wednesday.
Positive
However, 34-year-old Jayawardene has said he is committed to establishing a successful future for Sri Lankan cricket under new coach Graham Ford.
"We've had quite a few meetings when we arrived in Australia trying to cultivate a few things which we want in the team, such as the thinking processes and getting the guys to take more responsibility and be more free out there," he said .
"Even today we felt they've taken quite a bit in as well. We felt that their attitude, their hunger on the field, their bowling aggression, was great.
"It was a good game of cricket and I was happy with the effort.
"We made a few mistakes, but we executed a lot of our plans and just fell short because we were probably 30 or 40 runs short of our target, but overall I am quite happy."
Sri Lanka have won just two of their last nine one-day internationals and face an even bigger task on Friday when they play Australia.
"We have to be smart to beat them," Jayawardene said.
"We know their strengths and know what our strengths are; it is all about how you apply it on the day."
