Mathews wants team to get more credit for series win

Despite playing at home, that Sri Lanka entered the Test series against Australia as rank outsiders bore testimony to their falling stocks in international cricket. Angelo Mathews's press conferences usually contained a stoic response about his side's need to move beyond the transition narrative. But two Test matches on and the recurrence of a more popular Australia-cannot-play-spin recital, Mathews finds himself in a scarcely-occupied position in press conferences - that of conversation enforcer.


On the eve of the final Test of the series, one that the hosts have comprehensively sealed 2-0, the affable all-rounder sought greater credit for his team's spin credentials for having spun a web around the visiting Australian side. The home team's spinners have accounted for 36 wickets in their thrashing of Australia by 106 and 229 runs in Kandy and Galle respectively, but much of the press has been attracted by Australia's inability to counter the spin-conducive surfaces of the sub-continent.

"You can't say they've not given us a fight. We had to work really hard to win those two games," Mathews said on Friday (August 12). "I thought we played better cricket than them. I'm hearing the Aussies have not played good cricket, the wickets were pretty poor - well, come on, you've got to grow up.

"We've been on the same wicket, they've got spinners, we've got spinners. They've fought really hard but it's just our spinners have bowled really well, exploited the conditions and bowled better than them," the captain quipped.

Mathews, whose side now seeks a historic series sweep - a feat it has achieved only thrice before in Test history, remains wary of a wounded Australia that desperately seeks an ego massage. The captain, however, is optimistic in his stance that a 3-0 result could well be on the cards, given his side's run of four consecutive home victories.

"The Aussies are going to come back very hard at us and we know they're a tough team to beat, but we are excited for the challenge," Mathews said. "We would never get such an opportunity (to whitewash Australia) easily again, and certainly the team is aware of how vital winning the third test is for us.

"We have trained harder than what we did in the last two weeks because we need the 3-0 and everyone's all good. They've not taken their foot off the gas and trained extremely hard. Hopefully we can go out there and beat the Aussies again."

Mathews also confirmed that Suranga Lakmal's return from an ankle injury means Vishwa Fernando will make way for Sri Lanka in the only change for the hosts, who are eager to maintain a winning combination. "I spoke to the selectors and everyone's of the view that there might be just the one change, Lakmal is in the squad so he's fit, Vishwa might miss out," Mathews said.

"The selectors, the coach and everyone is of the view that we should go with the same batting order and not chop and change. Now that we've won the series we'll try to give that extra opportunity to the guys who we think will deliver at some stage."