“Sri Lankan team is getting stronger”- Mickey Arthur hails Sri Lankan side

Sri Lanka’s national cricket team coach, Mickey Arthur, is very confident of his players and says that they are going to rise from this uncertain phase and spring up as a much stronger team.

The coach said they are utilizing the time of the lockdown, due to the coronavirus pandemic, for reflecting upon their strategies and evaluate the previous matches with other teams in order to work upon improving their forms and ready themselves for their upcoming series and tournaments.

“We have been very happy with the improvement and willingness from the players to buy into the structure, work ethic, levels of preparation and goals that we have set the team in all formats.”, Arthur was quoted as saying by the Sri Lanka Cricket website.

Speaking of their goals he said, “We have some very realistic goals with our test team and believe that we have now the players and game plans to have success both at home and abroad in the future.”

Arthur is of the opinion that they should be ahead of everyone and emerge as a leader rather than followers. “This isolation period is giving us as coaching staff a time to reflect as well on the player plans, roles and goals that we have set for ourselves as a group. We are also looking at trends from around the world and analyzing all the opposition that we are going to play against over the next year. We as a group want to stay ahead of the pack and be the leaders not the followers in terms of coaching trends around the world!”, he said.

Mickey Arthur has been playing the role of Sri Lankan team’s coach since December 2019 and says he is totally aware of what is right for the team and for now, he directed the players to follow the customized routines and home training sessions devised for them.

“I think the most important thing is building a method to win games based on the resources that you have at your disposal and then making sure that the players are under no illusion as to what that method is based on our strength.”, he added.

Sri Lanka played their last in a T20I match against the West Indies on March 6, losing to the Caribbean side by 7 wickets. Last month England’s tour of Sri Lanka was postponed due to the coronavirus. Before the series was called off, it was decided that no player would shake hands during or after the game.