England can overtake Australia in the next couple of years thanks to a potent pool of young talent, pace bowler James Anderson has claimed.

The 20-year-old Lancashire star, whose talents were honed by Australian Test wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh at the England Academy, said: "I don't see any reason why we cannot overtake Australia in the next few years.

"I was discussing this with the lads at the Academy, and there is no doubt we have some talented young players, while Australia might be struggling in the future because a number of their guys are in their 30s."

Anderson is one of several exciting youngsters who point to a brighter future for England.

Surrey all-rounder Rikki Clarke is staking a strong claim to be the next rising star to make an England breakthrough while Nottinghamshire's Chris Read, fast-tracked into the England team four years ago and still only 24, has caught Anderson's eye.

"His (Read's) batting at the Academy was outstanding and Rikki Clarke is a very good all-rounder," he said.

"Then there are others, including my mate at Lancashire Kyle Hogg and (Hampshire's) Chris Tremlett."

Other established England players in their 20s are Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff.

Sri Lanka may possess cricket's most dangerous spinner, but New Zealand's captain Stephen Fleming believes the island nation has little firepower besides Muttiah Muralitharan.

"They've got the biggest strike power in the world in Murali, he can turn a match at any point," Fleming said ahead of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka that begins on Friday at Colombo's Saravanamuttu Stadium.

"With him they're always a good chance of winning and you have to play him very well ... Without him, they're not a very successful side," Fleming was quoted saying by the New Zealand Press Association.

Fleming said he'd confidently predict a New Zealand victory if Muralitharan was not in the opposition ranks, but there was no hiding from the bowler who has claimed 437 wickets in 78 Tests.

For inspiration, Fleming would be looking back to his unbeaten century against Muralitharan and company at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium in 1998.

Fleming's defiant innings thwarted Muralitharan for several hours and led to a Kiwi victory in the 1998 series opener by 167 runs. But Muralitharan had his revenge by shaping Sri Lanka dramatic comeback and a 2-1 series triumph.

"He wasn't bowling as well as he is now and didn't have the (delivery) that goes the other way. For a left-hander that's a whole new thing to counter," said Fleming.

In 18 Tests, New Zealand leads Sri Lanka 7-4 with seven draws, although Sri Lanka has won three of the last four Test series.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming says his depleted team can overcome the stifling heat and Sri Lanka's spin web when the two sides clash in their first Test series in six years later this week.

"My greatest challenge is to win Test matches in Sri Lanka," Fleming said, ahead of the first match of the two-Test series, starting at the Tamil Union ground on Friday.

"We have a good enough team to win. I am determined to play well and achieve it."

The last time the two teams met in a Test series was in 1997 when Fleming's tourists squandered a 1-0 lead by losing the remaining two matches to Arjuna Ranatunga's home team.

A devastated Fleming could only console himself by ending up as the highest scorer on both sides with 359 runs at a superb average of 71.80 with one hundred and two half-centuries.

The left-hander now seeks revenge despite the absence of three key aides, Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan, through injury or poor form.

Fleming knows the key lies in his players handling both the stifling 35 degrees celcius heat -- combined with 90 percent humidity -- and the Sri Lankan spin force led by Muttiah Muralitharan.

A couple of two-day practice matches over the last four days ensured the Kiwis adjusted to the weather, but tackling spin remained a worry.

New Zealand collapsed for 283 against a local side on Tuesday, clearly unable to read leg-spinner Upul Chandana, who forced his way in the Test squad with a five-wicket haul.

Much to the discomfort of the Kiwis, the Sri Lankan selectors named four specialist spinners in the 15-man squad for the first Test and hinted at least three of them may be playing on Friday.

Sri Lanka's attacking batsman Sanath Jayasuriya has rejected a suggestion by the selectors to vacate his opening slot and move to the middle order, national selector Aravinda de Silva said.

Having resigned as Sri Lanka's captain earlier this month, Jayasuriya was confronted with a query from the selectors if he would agree to bat lower down the order.

The selectors' move was aimed at bolstering the middle order, but Jayasuriya refused to play ball. Despite starting his international career as a middle-order batsman, it was after moving to the opening position that Jayasuriya made a big impact.

"There's a bit of a problem with our middle order. We had a chat with Sanath to see whether he'd like to bat lower down the order," said De Silva, who was inducted into the new selection panel when he retired from international cricket last month.

Veteran batsman De Silva's departure contributed to Sri Lanka's middle-order woes. Adding to that is the poor form of Russel Arnold, who after four years finds himself out of the squad to play New Zealand in opening Test of the two-match series that begins in Colombo on Friday.

"Sanath's more comfortable to open the innings and he'll continue to do so with Marvan Attapattu," De Silva told reporters.

New skipper Hashan Tillakaratne would now be heard before selectors finalise the line-up, changing a policy where the selectors used to name a team and ask the skipper to lead it.

"The team management will now have a big say in picking the side," said De Silva, who confessed this was not the case during his long stint with the Sri Lankan team.

"In the past, captains were not always satisfied with the teams that were given to them. Now they'll have a larger say," he said. "Based on my own experience, I hope this eases the pressure on the captain."

With the middle-order still unsettled, the selectors have named seven specialists batsmen in the 15-member squad for the opening Test.

Mahela Jayawardhane, whose dismal World Cup performance led to his ouster from the four-nation tournament in Sharjah earlier this month, makes a comeback after posting a century in a warmup game last weekend. Jayawardhane averaged just three runs in nine matches during the cup.

The selectors have recalled seasoned wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana, a member of the 1996 World Cup winning side who missed out on selection for the premier limited-over tournament this year.

Led by left-hander Tillakaratne, Sri Lanka will go into the match without pace bowler Dilhara Fernando, who has been ruled out due to a back injury.

Replacing him in the squad is rookie pacer Dharshana Gamage. Another new face in the side is legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

A two-member team comprising a psychologist and a fitness trainer has blamed "psychological problems" faced by South African players and their "inappropriate lifestyles" for the hosts first round exit from the World Cup cricket tournament.

Fitness expert Dr Andrew Gray and psychologist Dr Clinton Gohwiler, who were entrusted the responsibility by the United Cricket Board of South Africa to prepare reports on the team's pathetic performances in the mega tournament, revealed that barring bowler Makhaya Ntini and batsman Boeta Dippenaar, rest of the players were "more or less unfit" and lacked "application and attitude".

Four players -- opener Herschelle Gibbs, Allan Donald, Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener -- were particularly guilty of being ill-prepared and unfit for the World Cup, said Dr Gray in his report, which was published in all major newspapers in the country.

He also named Mark Boucher, former captain Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt for not paying enough attention to their diet or fitness training.

"Gibbs was gulity of bingeing and an inappropriate lifestyle, Donald drank too much and Kallis did not eat properly while his life away from the game needed attention," he said in the report, which was submitted to Board chief Gerald Majola, UCB medical committee chairman Dr Arnold Bloch, coach Eric Simons and convenor of selectors Omar Henry.

The report also stated that Hall, Klusner and Langeveldt were all ordered to lose weight and Pollock, who was replaced as captain soon after the World Cup by Graeme Smith, was told to stay away from chocolates.

Jonty Rhodes, who announced his retirement from international cricket after being forced to skip the World Cup, was identified as an injury risk long before he broke his hand in the second match against Kenya.

Smith, Rhodes replacement in the mega tournament, was another player warned about his "eating habits".

"I have provided documentation regarding the fitness level of various players who have failed their tests and nothing has been done about it," Gray said in his report.

"I do feel that I have no authority over my area of expertise."

In the report, Dr Gahwilder said he had held in-depth discussions with six players during the tournament.

He found their problems to be tension, expectations and relationships between the members of the team.

Maintaining that the ghost of Hansie Cronje also affected the team, he said the players should be tutored about handling the media and other situations.

"A booklet should be compiled clearly spelling out the team's behavioural code for all situations, be it performance-related, adressing the media or anything else. Consequences of not adhering to these should be clarified.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 1 Sub: srilanka fleming was correct in calling murali a one man army.srilanka cricket is declining rapidly and their most consistent players like jaywardene and arnold are in ... Posted by santosh