Cricinfo.com :
Sri Lanka’s newly-appointed head coach Chris Silverwood expects more discipline and patience in batting from his side, along with intent to score as well.
“We want more discipline in the batting, more patience in the batting and some intent to score as well. It is all about scoring runs and that is what we want the batting line-up to do. I will try and instill some confidence into the boys so they can go out there and construct their innings and score big runs, certainly in the first innings, and give us something to bowl at. It’s not rocket science,” Cricinfo quoted Silverwood as saying. “I have spent the last couple of weeks just digging through stats, looking at how we can improve. One of them is the intent to score, we have to give the batters the confidence to go out there and not fear getting out. That is not to say we have to be reckless, what I am saying is we have to bring ‘smarts’ into that as well. But I do want them to be positive, I want them to be brave. If we go with that attitude, the dot-ball rates will come down and the strike rates will go up, which can only be a good thing,” he added.
Silverwood said that he has asked players to be very specific while training, keep their opponents in mind and practice to suit such situations. “Rather than just training on a broad scale, every time you come out of that net, you come out a better player than you went in. To do that, you have to consider what challenges you have in front of you, and then go experiment, find a way, make your strengths stronger, and obviously work on the things you might not be as strong at,” he added.
Silverwood also said that he has challenged the Test bowlers to be on the money during their first 12 balls, noting that during first two overs, bowlers can make a real impact and put pressure on batters.
