Collingwood: 'We've a lot to learn'

Paul Collingwood is calling on his young England side to learn the lessons from their 119-run one-day series-opening defeat in Sri Lanka.

The Durham all-rounder, who is captain for England's limited overs matches, saw his men succumb in Dambulla as man-of-the-match Farveez Maharoof claimed 4-31. Chasing Sri Lanka's 269-7, England were dismissed for a lowly 150.

The thrashing in the first of the five-match series halted England's momentum after their outstanding series win over India just three weeks ago.

Looking ahead to the 2011 World Cup being staged in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, the England one-day captain warned his young side to take note of the skills required for success on the sub-continent.

He said: "Ideally in a couple of years we're going to be a lot better at it (bowling slower balls) when we come up against pitches like this, but hopefully we can get the boys bowling them accurately.

"It's not just the slower balls, it's the deception and surprise of slower balls and they showed us that it's a massive thing in a bowler's armoury."

He added: "We're going to go around the world and have to learn quickly to adapt to every single type of conditions and this is where experience comes into it.

"Against India we hit them hard with the ball and we were aggressive but you can't do that all the time abroad and you have to come up with different skills.

"Until you see what needs to be done sometimes you don't realise what you need in your game - that is why yesterday was such a big eye-opener for everybody.

"Maharoof had Glenn McGrath-like accuracy and mixed it up pretty well with at least two slower balls per over and (Lasith) Malinga and (Dilhara) Fernando showed great skill with the deception of their slower balls.

"It's not as if we came into the game blinkered because we knew about them but it was a night where it was pretty hard to pick them off."

Collingwood is eager for his team to learn their lessons quickly and intends to have a heart-to-heart before Thursday's second match of the series at the Dambulla National Stadium.

But Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene has warned England that learning new skills will not happen overnight and it could take them several years to get to the level Sri Lanka are at now.

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