Ranatunga gives Lanka a psychological edge

Rival captains Alec Stewart and Arjuna Ranatunga will wear forced smiles when they toss up before a 30,000 sell-out crowd but their bitter relationship is well documented.

Stewart believes the Sri Lankans present themselves as happy-go-lucky, but in fact take gamesmanship to the very edge. Ranatunga, the man who lifted the 1996 trophy, believes the England skipper does not know what he is talking about.

Whoever wins this opening Group A fixture — the first of 42 matches expected to attract a worldwide television audience of two billion — the two are unlikely to exchange a beer after the game.

The teams’ deteriorating relationship dates back to an encounter during a tri-nation tournamentin Australia earlier this year, when Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing.

Ranatunga, later given a six-match suspended ban for his behaviour, first led his team off in protest, then gave the umpire a finger-wagging lecture.

Stewart allowed himself to be drawn into the controversy and was caught on a stump microphone calling the Sri Lankan captain a disgrace. That was followed by several more confrontations between players.

According to the bookies, England go into tomorrow’s game as the favourites but it is hard to compare the sides.

England have packed their eleven with One-day specialists and medium-paced seamers. It is a functional, workman-like team short on world-class talent. Pace bowler Darren Gough is their only proven wicket-taker.

The Sri Lankans are all about flair, relying on the exotic spin bowling of Muralitharan and the extravagant, top-bracket batting of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva.

The home team are unlikely to surprise anyone with theirtactics. They will play `conventional’ cricket, starting their innings cautiously and trying to build momentum, with Graeme Hick and Andrew Flintoff hitting out when needed.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, have, according to their captain, “a few tricks up our sleeve”.

At the last World Cup, they turned the game’s conventional wisdom on its head, taking advantage of flat batting wickets and early-over fielding restrictions to attack from the very first ball.

Here, with damp wickets likely to favour the bowlers, they may experiment instead by opening their attack with Muralitharan rather than their pacemen.

Defeat is unthinkable for either side.

Group A is likely to be dominated by tournament favourites South Africa, leaving a tough four-way fight between England, Sri Lanka, India and Zimbabwe for the last two qualifying places.

Neither team has been playing well in the run-up to the World Cup and their morale would be badly deflated by an early loss.

England have won only one match in their lastseven One-dayers — although they came out on top in their latest confrontations with Sri Lanka, winning three out of five.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have only won four out of their last 18 matches — although they beat England at Lord’s last year in the final of a three-team tournament.

Sri Lanka may just hold the psychological edge, in the portly shape of their skipper.

Love him or loathe him, the experienced Ranatunga, playing in his fifth World Cup, is a highly intelligent cricketer and tactical schemer. Stewart, in comparison, can appear straightforward and one-paced.

Ranatunga may never become Stewart’s greatest buddy, but he might just condescend to have a friendly word or two with him before tomorrow’s game after all.

Just to remind him that England, unlike Sri Lanka, have never won a World Cup. Just to remind him of the pressure he is under, considering that the English game is struggling for popular appeal. Just to remind him that Stewart has barely hit a run in the last month, that…