Sri Lanka are set to take on England in a 3-match Test series, starting 21 August. Legendary Sanath Jayasuriya will be at the helm of the Sri Lankan side as the head coach and will be confident after beating India in the 3-match ODI series earlier this month. The head coach was asked about the team’s plan of countering ‘Bazball’ in the red-ball format ahead of the first Test which found a rather casual response from the head coach.

Jayasuriya said that Bazball was nothing new and the likes of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist had been playing the same brand of cricket since the late 1990s. Jayasuriya however acknowledged that England had the knack of going full tilt in the first 10 overs, which the visiting side was wary of.

“You get various styles depending on the time. Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did it too during our time. This is something similar to what we have had in the past. There has just been some media publicity that this is something new. They try to play attacking cricket from the outset, but the end goal is to get to those totals of 300 or 400,” Jayasuriya said in the press conference ahead of the first Test match.

“It’s in the first ten overs that there will be the most pressure I think. If you look historically, they have been attacking in that first ten overs and getting runs on the board quickly. We have got some plans to counter that. And we know this is how they will play,” he further added.

The former Sri Lanka all-rounder added that the key to bowling well was to find the right areas on the pitch.

“We have to bowl in the right places, and if they hit the good balls, that’s okay. We need to identify the right lengths given the conditions. There will be times when we need to cover the areas of the field where they are attacking, to cut down the boundaries,” Jayasuriya said.

England have already announced their playing XI for the first Test match against Sri Lanka. Captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the series after tearing his hamstring while playing at the Hundred.