By Dave Williams
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews is challenging his young side to play positive cricket after being beset by a drug suspension, injury to their top fast bowler and Dunedin's famous chilly weather.
The tourists have trained in the southern city ahead of the first Test at the University Oval, starting on Thursday, and will be underdogs against a well-performed Black Caps side.
Mathews admits conditions will be the main challenge and Dunedin is a completely different scenario from their last Test, played in Colombo in October.
"We've been playing our cricket for the past six to eight months in the subcontinent where the wickets are quite slow, low and the weather has been quite hot and humid," Mathews told reporters on Wednesday.
"It was very chilly, to be honest, in the last couple of days and the boys found it really hard."
The biggest news of the tour so far has been the suspension of wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera.
The 26-year-old failed a random ICC drug test for banned substances following matches against Pakistan in the middle of the year and now awaits the results of the B test.
The failure has been blamed on medication taken for a bite on the foot, with the team believing the medication was not on the banned list.
Mathews admitted having Perera sent home was "shocking", but didn't want to go into it further.
It meant Dinesh Chandimal, who averages 45.6 from 23 Tests, would bat at four and also keep wicket, Mathews said.
It was also worrying to lose their premier pace bowler Dhammika Prasad to a back injury.
Sri Lanka are also recovering from the retirement of run machines Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
"It is a quite massive gap to fill, we've been talking about it quite a lot," Mathews said.
They haven't settled on their final XI for the match.
"Whoever plays the game has to try to take responsibility, be positive and try and take those opportunities and tomorrow is the day to prove it."
AFP
