BIRMINGHAM, May 24: England won’t be dwelling on their Ashes thriller at Edgbaston when they meet Sri Lanka in the second Test starting on Thursday.
At the same ground last year, England beat Australia by two runs to level the series before going on to win cricket's prized urn.
“It was fantastic but, to be honest with you, that was a year ago,” England captain Andrew Flintoff said on Wednesday.
“We're not here to dwell on what happened in the Ashes last year, we've got a Test match against Sri Lanka starting tomorrow.
“We saw last week at Lord's that Sri Lanka are a talented, fighting side; so, turning up tomorrow, we can't be thinking about former glories.”
England have won just one Test in their last eight and know their fielding will come under scrutiny in their next appearance.
The old adage ‘catches win matches’ was particularly apt when the home team put down nine chances in the drawn first Test at Lord's earlier this month.
The dropped catches proved costly when Sri Lanka batted for more than 14 hours in its second innings to draw a match England should have won.
After England's first innings of 551 for six, the tourists made just 192 and were forced to follow on, scoring 537 for nine and hailed for a great escape.
“Obviously, we'd like to go one further and win the games,” Flintoff said.
“I don't think we're that far away. I think we did play some good cricket ... and a couple of mistakes cost us winning the game so we're not that far away and hopefully it can come together this week.”
Flintoff, who is again standing in for injured captain Michael Vaughan, admits he is learning “all the time.” But he dismissed suggestions he's being pulled in too many directions with off-field commitments.
“I'm a cricketer, I enjoy playing cricket,” Flintoff said. “After my family, it's probably the most important thing in my life, so I'm not going to lose direction ... I'm not going to take my eye off the ball.
“Things off the field come around by performing on it. If that stops, there's going to be nothing there.”
Veteran Sri Lanka batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, who was called out of retirement and flown to England during the first Test, will not play in the second as the team maintains its youth policy.
Jayasuriya retired from Test cricket in April to make way for younger players after amassing 6,613 runs in 102 matches.
“We told the young guys that we will give them the necessary opportunities,” Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said.
“It's a big decision, but we'll have to give them the opportunities that they deserve.
“If we realize that is not the path then we can make a change, but without giving them that opportunity, it's not fair.”
Jayawardene said Jayasuriya had accepted the decision and didn't rule him out of playing in the third Test starting at Trent Bridge on June 2.
Paceman Lasith Malinga, who was overlooked for the Lord's match, is a possible starter in Birmingham after being included in the tourists’ 12-man squad for the second Test.
The 22-year-old Malinga, known for his unusual bowling action, snared a five-wicket haul in a tour match against Sussex last week.
England fast bowler Sajid Mahmood, who claimed three wickets in nine balls on debut in the first Test looks set to feature again at Edgbaston, with first-pick pacemen Steve Harmison (shin) and Simon Jones (knee) still injured.
Jon Lewis could be 12th man unless the selectors opt for an all-pace attack, which would mean leaving out crowd favourite Monty Panesar. The left-arm spinner claimed 2-49 off 27 overs in Sri Lanka's second innings in the first Test.
Teams (from):
ENGLAND: Andrew Flintoff (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Hoggard, Sajid Mahmood, Monty Panesar, Jon Lewis.
SRI LANKA: Upul Tharanga, Michael Vandort, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Darrell Hair (Australia).
TV umpire: Ian Gould (England).
Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).—AP