Sri Lanka's impact at big event pleases captain Jayawardene

Bridgetown, Barbados: Besides taming some of the big teams on their way to the finals of the World Cup, the Sri Lankan skipper is happy that "our overall performance in the World Cup will push up the standard of the game in our country."

Mahela Jayawardene was answering a query from the Gulf News on the impact of his team's performance in the tournament on their country.

Recalling their earlier days when they were the minnows in world cricket to 1996 when they completely foxed the world by lifting the World Cup, he traced the progress in Sri Lankan cricket through hardships and struggle.

"Sri Lankan cricket has come a long way. The guys who played the game before 1996 had gone through a lot of hardships."

Hard work

"But the victorious 1996 group changed the whole concept of Sri Lankan cricket. They brought in a lot of professionalism and money into the game so that we could develop and reap a lot of rewards, by no means discounting the hard work that has gone in sustaining the momentum. Development requires sustenance. If we can put in more effort, we can bring in more success. Yes, we are in the right direction but we still need to work hard," the skipper stresses, not willing to take things easy even after this tournament.

He highlights coach Tom Moody's role in their success. While all of them were aware of their talent, what they needed was mental toughness. "Tom taught us how to push ourselves and find out what is there for us. We had never expected to push ourselves this far," Jayawardene admitted.

The benefits have far outnumbered the cost as far as the Sri Lankan team is concerned.