COLOMBO, July 18: Sri Lanka was still not good enough to win matches abroad after the recent cricket tour of England, admitted coach Dav Whatmore.

He, however, struck a positive note saying the team was not far away from achieving that. “It’s been a while since we played abroad and this was a very important tour. The score line at the end 2-0 in Test matches and not qualifying in one-dayers is simply not good. I’ve seen some positives but we haven’t got it to what it takes to win abroad,” said Whatmore in a post-tour interview.

“I don’t think we’re that far really. The difference moment is narrowing. The more we are able to practice in these sorts of conditions, the better it will be. Back home we have been making special efforts to prepare fast and bouncy wickets. I can see definite signs it is paying dividends,” he said.

On Test series Whatmore said: “The first Test was very encouraging. We were just a little bit unfortunate not to have enough petrol in the tank to bowl them out twice. They batted well on a wicket that was good and lasted five days.

“Whether the team relaxed a little and underestimated opposition before second Test I am not entirely sure. We didn’t have a great lead up due to rain at Cardiff and we couldn’t play Dilhara Fernando. So we were still lacking an express bowler.

“But nevertheless, that first session of play between lunch and tea was horrible where we lost six wickets for something like 80 or 90 runs at Edgbaston. That was turning point. From there on we were playing catch-up cricket. They started to create mental edge over us. It was resounding victory over four days.

“In final Test we were five balls away from drawing. If we had batted for one extra over we would have been okay. It was disappointing how we batted in first innings. We were bowled out for 280. It was not good enough.

“At the end we could have still drawn that Test match by facing one more over before we went out. Then we had to bowl for five overs for 50 runs. It was reachable with 10 wickets in hand. The way England played and way we played, it reflected exactly how we felt. We were on same side when we were winning. But it’s a harsh reality to be on the other side of the fence,” said Whatmore.

On one-day series he said: “This was another series for us to understand that in one-day cricket we have got to get used to playing with medium-paced quick bowlers.

“But sadly, it almost appeared when bowlers did well batsmen were short of 15-20 runs. Likewise, when batsmen did well, bowlers were short of consistent length and direction. At end of the day, the difference between two teams was quite small.

“There’s been areas of guilt in batting and bowling in every match that we played which meant narrow difference between the two teams. Unfortunately, we were losers. But we have ideal opportunities coming with 3 to 4 one-dayers in South Africa (in October) and eight plus hopefully the finals in Australia (in December/January) before the World Cup.

“We have good preparation but we have got to be a bit careful how you handle it. There’s a lot of cricket. We have to be really mindful of weight of cricket and juggle around from time to time so that bowlers remain fresh and raring to go in February”.

Whatmore said he personally had an idea of what he wants to convey to the selectors, which, in his opinion, would be bowlers and batters.

“We had 16 in one-day squad and only Buddhika (Fernando) played in one game. The rest played a minimum of two games. I can make some sort of subjective assessment. I have an idea of what to communicate in my opinion, for next 7-8 months in order for us to get best possible combination for World Cup,” he said.