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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Cameron White is working to help restore Australia's cricket reputation

AUSTRALIA Twenty20 captain Cameron White believes success in Sri Lanka will be just the first step in restoring the country's battered cricketing reputation.
White and his charges begin the action in earnest tomorrow night with the first of two Twenty20 matches at Kandy's Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
But he feels after Australia's slump to being the fifth-ranked Test nation in the world and the disappointing World Cup quarter-final exit, it will take more than just one good tour to have teams fearing a clash with Australia again.
"If Australia was to win a Test series, that could be the start of something that was a good Test run I guess," White said.
"(But) I'm not sure whether you can get aura or something like that back in just one match or one series."
White's primary concern is coming out on top over a strong Sri Lanka side in the two T20 matches that start the tour.
"What we have done over the past few days is have some very good training sessions," the Victorian said.
"Before we left Australia we got some good match-situation practice in, so I think by the time Saturday comes around, we've got two days in Kandy, and I think we'll be very well prepared for not only the two Twenty20 games but the series ahead."
White's opposite number Tillakaratne Dilshan, who will also lead the hosts in the five one-day matches and three Tests, is also keen to get the series off to a successful start.
"This is a very good challenge for us playing against a great team like Australia," Dilshan said. "As a team . . . we are ready for this series. We have to play good cricket."
The groundsman is certainly expecting his pitch to deliver some "good" cricket.
The stadium in Kandy is a new venue, having only been opened in 2009 and hosted its first international match when Sri Lanka and the West Indies played a Test match there in December.
Only three one-day matches have been played at the venue, all at this year's World Cup, with Sri Lanka only involved in one of those fixtures.
But national curator of pitches, Anuruddha Polonnowita expects the strip to be an even one for both teams. "Three pitches are being rolled and prepared for the occasion," Polonnowita told Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror newspaper yesterday.
"It is going to be a good wicket and should provide good cricket."

ESPN AUSTRALIA

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