Colombo - World champions Australia, twice surprised by India in the early stages of the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy one-day tournament, remain the side to beat in the 2002 edition starting on Thursday.
Coach John Buchanan has warned the other sides in the prelude to next year's World Cup in South Africa that the Australians were still getting better as they prepared to meet defending champions New Zealand on Sunday.
"My role is to make the side concentrate, in the next six months, on the fundamentals, to make them play Test and one-dayers better than they do," he said.
Australia arrived for the September 12 to 29 event after dominating a one-day triangular series in Nairobi, where victory hopes against Pakistan were dashed because of a rain abandonment.
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Hosts Sri Lanka, India and the unpredictable Pakistan side - all past world champions - will be boosted by their familiarity with traditionally slow Asian pitches.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan could prove the key if Sri Lanka are to push their home advantage and assuage the pain of an abysmal showing in the 1999 World Cup after winning the tournament three years earlier.
"I don't know about the first two or three games, but after that it will help slow bowlers rather than the faster guys," he said.
Sri Lanka have a major fitness worry over skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, with the explosive left-hander struggling to be ready for the opening game against Pakistan.
"I am trying my best," said Jayasuriya, who sustained a shoulder injury in the one-day tournament in Morocco last month.
India's first choice team will take part after a long-standing sponsorship dispute was resolved. The row over the conflicting rights between the official tournament sponsors and the players' individual sponsors was resolved after a teleconference between the ICC and the Indian board.
Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the record for aggregate and centuries in one-dayers, with skipper Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, have been in superb form during the four-Test series against England that ended in a 1-1 draw on Monday.
India, who meet England in their opening game, have youngsters Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, who lifted their side to victory over hosts England in a triangular one-day series.
England's job will be tougher in the absence through injury of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and strike bowler Darren Gough.
New Zealand will also miss all-rounder Chris Cairns, their 2000 match-winner, who is injured. Craig McMillan and Matt Horne have stayed at home because of security concerns.
The event, introduced in 1998 as a biennial knockout event to raise funds for the game's development, has been restructured with a preliminary league featuring four pools of three teams with the winners qualifying for the semifinals. - Reuters
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