COLOMBO, July 5: Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu has spoken about having to face a second-string West Indies team in a two-Test series starting on July 13 in Colombo.

West Indies have sent a squad of novices after a prolonged contract dispute that led to only three players from the original 14-man squad agreeing to travel to Sri Lanka.

Atapattu says there is deep disappointment over the absence of players like Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle but insists Sri Lanka will aim to be as clinical as possible.

“The cricket-loving public are obviously disappointed to not see their stars and as a team we would have much preferred to have played against their full side,” Atapattu said on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka faced a similar situation last year when a player dispute robbed Zimbabwe of their best players and produced one of the most farcically one-sided encounters in test history.

“This is the second time that we have experienced a situation like this and we will have to concentrate on the things we worked on there,” Atapattu said.

“We will be focusing on our game rather than the opposition’s and setting specific goals for each individual and the team to make sure we remain completely motivated and focused.”

“We also know that this West Indies side is stronger than that Zimbabwe team and they also have add the advantage that several players have full acclimatised to conditions here during their ‘A’ team tour.

“It is therefore important that we go out there and play the best possible cricket we can.”

Atapattu says his team are now hungry again for international cricket after a three-month break and excited to be starting off a new season with a new coach, Tom Moody, the former Australian all rounder.

“We’ve just finished a four-day training camp and we’re excited by the prospect of learning new things from Tom, who comes with a wealth of experience as a coach and player,” said Atapattu.

Sri Lanka welcome back their top bowler, former world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, after a long absence through injury.

“We’ve been without him for nearly a year and are delighted to have him back, especially me because having one of the world’s great bowlers at your disposal eases the pressure off any captain,” said Atapattu.

The second Test starts in Kandy on July 21 and is followed from July 30 by a triangular one-day series also involving India.

Meanwhile, Muralitharan said he will miss the challenge of bowling to Lara when he returns to Test cricket next week after almost a year out with injury.

“Bowling to Brian is always a big challenge,” said Muralitharan, 33, who is set to play his first Test after an 11-month layoff due to shoulder injury.

“But unfortunately, he is not in this squad as they (the West Indies) have got some internal problems.”

Lara was the lone batsman to tame Muralitharan in his own backyard when the West Indies toured Sri Lanka in 2001, aggregating an astonishing 688 runs in three Tests with three centuries.

“He batted extremely well against me when they were here last time, but don’t forget we still completed a 3-0 sweep,” said Muralitharan, who played a big role in his team’s victories with 24 wickets in the series.

The Sri Lankan is the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 532 scalps in 91 matches, behind only Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (583 wickets in 123 Tests).

Despite the West Indian’s amazing run-spree against Sri Lanka, Muralitharan was unsure if Lara was the best batsman he had bowled to.

“Brian batted well and scored a lot of runs against me in the last series here. When someone scores so many runs he has got to be very good,” said Muralitharan.

“But I have not bowled to (India’s) Sachin Tendulkar in the last seven or eight years in a Test match which is really disappointing.”—Agencies