COLOMBO, Sept 5: Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu claimed his team had nothing to fear from any opponent as they departed the country to defend their ICC Champions Trophy crown in England on Sunday.

Sri Lanka have been filling up the cricket board headquarters with silverware in recent months, winning the Asia Cup and thrashing South Africa in both the Test series and One-day Internationals.

Atapattu's team have won 15 out of their last 16 one-day matches and climbed to second position behind Australia in the International Cricket Council's official limited overs rankings.

However, Sri Lanka face a tough encounter against an equally buoyant England team on Sept 17 if they are to qualify for a semifinal showdown against New Zealand or Australia.

"We have the confidence and the spirit within the team now to face any side on any given day," Atapattu told reporters after the squad and team officials were blessed by Buddhist monks prior to departure.

"At the moment we are lucky to have 14 players in our squad all pushing hard for selection - the three who are left out each game can consider themselves unlucky," he added.

"While it is always nice to go into a game with an impressive record behind you, that soon becomes history when you play your next game." Sri Lanka's first concern is adapting to late-season conditions in England and coach John Dyson travelled ahead of the squad to gather information on the pitches.

"We are not very sure of the exact conditions, however, we have two warm-up games and should be able to adjust accordingly," Atapattu said. "At the moment we are just trying to concentrate and focus on the things that we can control." Sri Lanka shared the last ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 with India after the final was washed out. -Reuters