Jayasuriya ready to lead from the top

Sanath Jayasuriya believes his performance at the top of Sri Lanka's batting order will be crucial to the outcome of the forthcoming Test and ODI series between Australia and Sri Lanka.

Jayasuriya, now 34, who wants to continue playing for the national side for the foreseeable future, expects Sri Lanka to test Australia in home conditions.

Jayasuriya has been working closely with John Dyson, the Sri Lanka coach, to get his game in shape before the heavyweight contest against the best team in the world which starts on Friday.

"I have already started working myself with the assistance of the coach (John Dyson) towards approaching the series," said Jayasuriya. "As a senior member, I think my contribution will be vital for the team's success."

Jayasuriya admits that Sri Lanka will have to play brilliant cricket to beat Australia, but expects the slow, turning pitches to be a major advantage for the home team.

"Australia has a different kind of bowling attack and their attitude towards the game is totally different to that of England. We will have to play a different game altogether against them."

"We have a good advantage playing in our own conditions," he says. "They cannot play here the way they do back home. It will not be easy for them. Our boys know what to do in our conditions. We have to plan against each individual. The wickets are on the slower side and we have a big advantage over them."

Jayasuriya, currently level with Aravinda de Silva with 308 ODI caps, is set to become the most capped Sri Lanka ODI player during the course of the series. Also just 113 runs short of de Silva's record 9284 ODI run aggregate, he is set to become the highest Sri Lankan ODI run scorer in history too.

Despite the looming milestones and his increasing age, he has no plans to retire in the near future. On the contrary, he expects to be able to play on for the foreseeable future thanks to the efforts of former team physio Alex Kontouri (ironically, now the physio for the Australia team).

"I have been working very hard at my physical fitness in the last few years and I am very fit. I owe a lot of it to Alex (Kontouri) for what he has done for me as well as the other members of the team during the last 8-9 years," said Jayasuriya.

"It is largely because of his training that we are in this shape and very fit today. He did so much alone - physiotherapy, training and even our diet. I have a few years to go thanks to his training," he said.

"As long as I am physically fit and strong I will continue to play."