Sri Lankan coach optimistic despite two losses 

Leeds, July 01: Sri Lankan cricket coach Dav Whatmore says his side is set to turn things around in the triangular one-day series despite being beaten convincingly by England and India in its opening matches.

Sri Lanka will take on England at Headingley on Tuesday in a match it cannot afford to lose if it is to remain in contention for the final.

The 1996 World Cup winners lost to England by 10 wickets and to India by four wickets.

"We are not far away from getting into our groove," Whatmore said Monday. "If you look at the level of fight then it is quite evident the team shows a desire to win.

"What we need is to give ourselves a little bit more of a chance and score a few run at the right time and take the fight to the opposition. Then hopefully, we'll get a winning result." Sri Lanka's top six batsmen have made good starts but have failed to convert them into match winning innings. In the two losses, only one batsman surpassed 50.

Meanwhile, England is considering dropping Matthew Hoggard, who has struggled as a bowler.

With Darren Gough expected to be considered for selection for the first time in the triangular series following his recovery from a knee operation, England remains on course to making one or two changes after losing to India by six wickets at Lord's on Saturday. But the fitness of Gough could hold the key to Hoggard's selection. On Saturday, Hoggard gave up 62 runs in 8.5 overs. "We want him to bowl to some degree, and you just try and get through with some character," coach Duncan Fletcher said of Hoggard.

"You're going to find that with inexperienced players, that they go up and down. The difference is that experienced players know how to go through bad spells and inexperienced players get more of a knock."

Lineups:

England (from): Nasser Hussain (captain), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Ronnie Irani, James Kirtley, Nick Knight, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick and Darren Gough.

Sri Lanka (from): Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Russell Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Upul Chandana, Naveed Nawaz, Buddhika Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Kumar Sangakkara and Avishka Gunawardene.