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Sri Lanka beefs up support team

With under a month to go for the World Cup, the Sri Lankan team appears to be ringing in some emergency changes.

The chief executive officer of the cricket board in Sri Lanka, Dhammika Ranatunga, said setbacks in recent tournaments, and last month's management crisis, was seriously affecting team morale and they desperately needed fresh motivation.

Thus, Sri Lanka has recruited the services of Pakistan psychologist Omar Khan to build the self -confidence of the Sri Lankan players after a series of dismal performances.

"We have started a three-day session from today and it is conducted by a Pakistan psychologist, Omar Khan," Ranatunga said as players brushed aside a previously scheduled press conference and rushed off for counselling.

The recent election imbroglio in the BCCSL, coupled with bad form in recent times, made it mandatory that the team needed professional assistance to motivate them for the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Duleep Mendis has replaced Ranjit Fernando as the manager of the side, and Trevor Chappell is to coach the side along with Roy Dias. The Sri Lankan team has shown a marked improvement in their fielding ever since the lesser known of the Chappell brothers joined the team.

Trevor, famous for that under-arm delivery which almost jeopardized political relations between New Zealand and Australia, looks to work on the fielding aspect of the Sri Lankans, which has fallen a couple of notches since they lifted the World Cup in Lahore in 1996.

"I don't think the elections affected the players because we tried to keep them away from themanagement side and got them to concentrate on cricket," said Duleep Mendis as he played down the crisis in the BCCSL elections affecting the players.

Dhammika Ranatunga, elder brother of Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, said, "What we found was that when we tried new players, we did not too well and we were better off with the more experienced players. That is why we have very senior and experienced players in the squad."