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Cardiff: Ashes-winners England head into the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday insisting they won't take their injury-hit visitors lightly.
If England sweep the series 3-0, they will move up into second place in the International Cricket Council ( ICC) Test rankings.
Since England moved to staging seven Tests in a home summer in 2000 they have not lost an early season series.
Sri Lanka arrived in England without star-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has retired completely, and fast bowler Lasith Malinga, who has quit Tests on injury grounds.
Although they won both their warm-up matches, Sri Lanka's prospects for the first Test have been dealt a double blow by injuries to seamers Nuwan Pradeep (ligament) and Dilhara Fernando (knee).
Pradeep's injury is so serious he is set to return home for six to eight weeks while Fernando is struggling to be fit for Thursday.
But England captain Andrew Strauss, in what will be his side's first Test match since they won the Ashes 3-1 in Australia in January, dismissed all suggestions of a "homecoming".
"We achieved quite an important goal for us as a side to win out there in Australia but our goals now have turned towards this summer and beyond," he told reporters here on Wednesday.
Strauss made a century for Middlesex against Sri Lanka in the islanders' tour-opening victory and was impressed by what he saw.
They are a very good side. In both games they have played, they have come back from difficult positions to win those games.
"We will not be taking them lightly," added Strauss, captain of the England side that suffered a 10-wicket World Cup quarterfinal thrashing by Sri Lanka in Colombo in March.
As for the absence of Muralitharan, international cricket's most successful bowler of all-time, opening batsman Strauss added: "We all know what he achieved in the game and those boots are big boots to fill.
The only decision for the home side is the make-up of their pace attack and it seems likely that Steven Finn will miss out. Stuart Broad is fit again after his winter injuries although he looked a little short of rhythm in the County Championship. Morgan replaces Paul Collingwood in the middle order with Ian Bell set to move to No. 5. Pietersen and Jonathan Trott will be needed for some fill-in overs at various stages.
Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said the loss of the in-form Pradeep had been a bitter blow.
And that could mean call-ups for left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara and fellow seamer Suranga Lakmal.
Dilshan, added conditions meant Sri Lanka had included just one spinner, left-armer Rangana Herath, in their 12-man squad for the first Test.
"He has been bowling really well over the last few matches and he is a very experienced guy who has played a lot of Test cricket over the last few years," explained Dilshan.
Sri Lanka's top order, featuring former captains Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, both recently arrived from the IPL, as well as Dilshan himself, could certainly pose problems for England's attack.
Sri Lanka have been hit with injuries to their pace attack. Pradeep is out and there are concerns over Dilhara Fernando, who is set to share the new ball with Chanaka Welegedara. Dilshan confirmed they'd picked six batsmen and five bowlers, a hint that Farveez Maharoof could play while Rangana Herath is the one spinner in their 12.
Teams from
England: AJ Strauss (capt), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior (WK), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, CT Tremlett, JM Anderson, ST Finn
Sri Lanka: TM Dilshan (capt), NT Paranavitana, HDRL Thirimanne, KC Sangakkara (WK), DPMD Jayawardene, TT Samaraweera, LD Chandimal (WK), HAPW Jayawardene (WK), NLTC Perera, S Randiv, BAW Mendis, HMRKB Herath, CRD Fernando, UWMBCA Welegedara, RAS Lakmal, ANPR Fernando, MF Maharoof
Pitch and conditions
Domestic and international pitches are often two very different beasts at Cardiff. Alarms are sometimes raised by the amount of turn for Glamorgan matches, but the groundsman keeps things safe for the internationals. Stuart Law said the pitch "looked a belter" and two years ago Australia piled up 674 for 6. The forecast, however, isn't too promising with showers forecast for the opening day and further rain over the weekend.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
May 26-30, 2011
Start time 11:00 local (10:00 GMT)
