Graham Ford says Sri Lanka will face a huge challenge in England

Sri Lanka's head coach Graham Ford admits that his team will face a huge challenge in their first series in England, since their legendary batting duo Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have retired.

It has been two years since the Lankans won their historic first away series in England, emerging victorious in the Test series, ODI series and the one T20 match. The current team has been struggling with their batting line-up, which has become vulnerable after the exit of these two giants.

Ford was “quietly confident” about his side adjusting to the English conditions in summer, but also feels that it would be a steep learning curve for the team.

"I am quietly confident that they will be able to work together and really create pressure in the English conditions. As far as our batting goes, having lost a couple of senior players (Sangakkara and Jayawardene), obviously young players have come in.

"They have worked extremely well and (worked) extremely hard in the past few weeks. It can be a huge mental challenge for them (to play in English conditions)," he addressed the reporters in Colombo.

The South African hoped to create a closely-knit unit and said it will help the team outdo the hosts. "It is going to be extremely important that they work together as a unit and support each other. If we get that right, we can cause some problems for English batsmen."

Angelo Mathews hopes Lahiru Thirimanne makes a comeback

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said that he is expecting the limited-overs vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne to get back to form during the tour. The southpaw, who is one of the leading batsmen in the side, has been on a poor run this year.

"I think we all know Thirimanne is very technically equipped and he is our best batsman at the moment," said Mathews who is in fact, himself widely regarded as Sri Lanka's most dangerous batsman.

"A slight mental shift in his approach can do wonders. We are all backing him to go out there and fire. We really look forward to him scoring lots of runs," the all-rounder said.

Thirimanne is expected to join the team later as his visa is yet to be cleared, officials said.

The two-month tour will include three tests, five ODIs and one Twenty20 match. Sri Lanka have named two uncapped batsmen- Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka for the Test series, which will commence on May 19 in Leeds.