Cricket: Jayawardene eyes 5000 mark

CHRISTCHURCH - Sri Lankan coach Tom Moody is expecting big things from star batsman Mahela Jayawardene in the next three games against New Zealand.

The 28-year-old right hander was one of the few top order batsmen to find any form during Sri Lanka's ill-fated tour of India, and heads into today's game needing only 42 more runs to become the sixth Sri Lankan to reach the 5000 mark.

Of the Sri Lankans, only Sanath Jayasuriya (10,219 runs), Aravinda de Silva (9284), Marvan Atapattu (7794), Arjuna Ranatunga (7456) and Roshan Mahanama (5162) have previously achieved the feat, and Moody said Jayawardene would be a worthy addition to the group.

"I think he's a terrific player, not only as a one-day batsman but also as a test cricketer," said Moody.

"He's a great touch player, one of the better players of spin that I've been involved with, and he plays an important role in our side in terms of his experience. He understands game situations very well.

"He's also been in excellent form over the past few weeks.

"Unfortunately, he got a good one early at Queenstown, but I'm sure he's looking forward to showing his form in this match."

For all that, Jayawardene's career record can be split into two distinct categories: when he's playing at home he's averaging 39.71 and when he's abroad he is down to just 23.83.

The contrast can possibly be attributed to the lack of bounce provided by typical Sri Lankan pitches, as opposed to the extra lift found in wickets away from home, especially in Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand.

Moody yesterday touched on the need for his batsmen to adjust to the extra bounce of the New Zealand pitches, saying there had been quite a bit of soul searching in the camp since the seven wicket loss at Queenstown.

"From what I understand, and from looking back at the history of this ground [Jade Stadium], it's going to be a very good batting wicket," said Moody.

"It may not have the same bounce that the previous wicket had, but we'll still have to adjust our game and play a lot better than we did in Queenstown.

"We've discussed what happened there; we know it wasn't acceptable, and the players know that it's not an acceptable level to be playing at."

Moody insisted his side were not deflated by the early loss and that there was a great spirit and atmosphere within the Sri Lankan changing room; it was just that results had gone against them and there was now extra scrutiny on everyone.