Bangladesh positive despite crushing defeat

COLOMBO, June 28 (Reuters) Bangladesh's new skipper Mohammad Ashraful tried manfully to put a positive spin on his team's crushing innings defeat by Sri Lanka today.

''We have not played test cricket for a while,'' the 22-year-old told reporters after Bangladesh lost the first test by an innings and 234 runs.

''That was one of the reasons we did not do that well in the first innings.'' Bangladesh were skittled out for just 89 runs in the first innings but at least salvaged some pride with a creditable 254 in the second.

''The big positive was the second innings. It showed that if we can concentrate hard it is possible to play quality bowlers.

''For most of the innings we stuck to our gameplan and it worked well -- that gives us confidence going into the second and third tests.'' Ashraful added: ''Our aim is to make sure that every test we get a little bit better.'' Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was delighted with his side's win but still called for an all round improvement from his players in the second test which starts on July 3.

''Everyone chipped in with the batting and the bowlers never gave up in what were tough conditions, bowling aggressively and creating opportunities,'' he said.

''Overall it was a brilliant performance but there are some areas where we can improve, including our consistency in all three departments of the game.

''The ground fielding was excellent but we dropped some chances and we have to work on that.'' REUTERS TB RK1415