Chat with Aussie stars inspires Sri Lankans

As Sri Lanka prepares for its opening one-day clash against India in a rain-swept Brisbane today, skipper Mahela Jayawardene revealed a secret meeting with Australian stars after the Test series late last year had inspired his players. Writes Ben Dorries for The Herald Sun.

"We had a chat to the Australians because we wanted to learn from them," Jayawardene said.

"Some of those guys have played so much cricket and we wanted to learn how things have been for them.

"It's always good to chat about the general game with your peers so you can get ideas and fit them into your own development.

"We had a chat because we felt we had played good cricket in the Test series and they had played good cricket, but at the end of the day we finished behind them.

"We felt that talking to them about how to produce good tough cricketers really helped."

Today's clash between the two subcontinental rivals is unlikely to inspire much interest, however, both are capable of great deeds.