Tuesday 25 November 2014 18:40, UK
England captain Alastair Cook says his team's one-day international series against Sri Lanka, which gets under way on Wednesday, offers his team the chance to make dramatic improvements ahead of next year's Cricket World Cup.
The seven ODIs against Sri Lanka will be followed by England's triangular series against Australia and India before the showpiece tournament gets under way in February.
But England, ranked fifth in the ICC world rankings, have been heavily criticised for their performances in the 50-over game with former captain Michael Vaughan calling for Cook to stand down as skipper and describing the team as "15 steps behind the rest of the world".
We have this chunk of one-day cricket, which certainly I've never had - six months of it leading up to the World Cup.
Since January, England have lost ODI series against Australia, Sri Lanka and India and Cook accepts there is plenty of room for improvement.
"We will have to concentrate on our cricket," said Cook, who is set to open the batting with Moeen Ali. "We have this chunk of one-day cricket, which certainly I've never had - six months of it leading up to the World Cup.
"I hope we can make some really big improvements in a short space of time."
England will leave a decision on bowler Steven Finn's participation in the match until the last minute after he reported a niggling groin injury in training.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson are not in Sri Lanka as they recover from injuries, although both are hoping to be fit in time for the World Cup.
If Finn does miss out, Harry Gurney, who has not played at all on the tour, may come in to the team for an eighth ODI cap.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are only one place ahead of England in the world rankings and are hoping to bounce back from a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of India which was every bit as one-sided as the scoreline suggests.
But motivation for their trio of legendary batsmen - Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan - should not be difficult to find, with all three potentially playing their last ODI series on home soil.
"They are the foundation of our team," said vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne. "A lot of the time, they've been instrumental in our victories. I'm sure the fans will come in their numbers and support them in this series."
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga is out through injury and Thirimanne admitted the 31-year-old was a major loss.
"We feel his absence a lot," he added. "I think the 'death' overs is where a bowler's maturity is most tested. The new bowlers we have are talented - but when it comes to the final few overs, they can have nerves.
The new bowlers we have are talented - but when it comes to the final few overs, they can have nerves.
"We've been training with that in mind in the past week, though, and I'm sure the bowlers will come with a good plan."
England's build-up to the series has been severely hampered by bad weather with only one warm-up match completed in Sri Lanka's rainy season.
"We can't control the weather, and I'm not sure we're going to be able to control it over the next couple of weeks," Cook added. "Things might change on the day. We're going to have to be flexible on that.
"I think we've made some really good progress in this week-and-a-half. We've talked a good game so far in meetings and nets, and I could not ask the lads for any more effort. But the crux of the matter is how we pull up on Wednesday, and how we play."
Watch England take on Sri Lanka in the first ODI of their tour in Colombo live on Sky Sports 2 from 8.30am on Wednesday
