GALLE: England have some thing to prove when they take on Sri Lanka in the first of two cricket tests on Monday, after being beaten 3-0 by Pakistan, captain Andrew Strauss said on Sunday.
"We have got a point to prove, we need to bounce back after those results against Pakistan," said Strauss, whose side are ranked number one in the world.
"We are not focusing on the world rankings at the moment, it's not of great consequence to us. If you focus too much on that then you are taking your eyes off what is important which is try and win each game of cricket.
"We know the extent of the challenge here and we know that Sri Lankais very good especially in their home conditions. We have got to be very good to overcome those challenges. That's plenty enough to focus on and the rankings will take care of themselves.
"I've got no concerns that we can back our ability to bounce back and get big scores over here but there is always an element of pressure we need to deal with in international cricket, it's part and parcel of the job," he said.
After playing Pakistanon neutral territory in theUnited Arab Emirates, Strauss said the higher humidity and more oppressive heat inSri Lanka would influence the choice of team.
"You've always got to consider in these conditions how much strain you put on your bowling and how much they can contend with," said Strauss. "That's always a fact in deciding the team we are playing."
With Ravi Bopara unable to bowl because of a side strain sustained in the second warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI,England
have to decide who will fill the number six slot.
They could either play Bopara purely as a batsman, leaving them with four front-line bowlers, or opt for Tim Bresnan or Samit Patel, both of whom can also contribute with the bat.
Strauss said Stuart Broad had recovered fully from his ankle injury and he is likely to be James Anderson's new ball partner. Spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar will complete the England bowling line-up.
Last year, theGallewicket used for the test againstAustraliawas reported to be unfit by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Chris Broad which led to the ICC issuing a warning to the local cricket authorities.
The pitch for this week's test was described bySri Lankacaptain Mahela Jayawardene as "a typical Galle wicket, much better than the one we played on against Australia, a really good test wicket."
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