We are ready for the Aussies, says Arnold

St.George's (Grenada), Apr 20 (UNI) Sri Lanka all-rounder Russel Arnold today promised defending champion Australia a tough time if and when they meet again in this World Cup.

''I can promise the Australians that we will be a much stronger team if we meet again,'' Arnold said while referring to his team's defeat at the hands of the defending champions in the Super Eight league match.

''But as of now we are only thinking about the semi-finals.

Before we left Sri Lanka, to get to that stage was our first target but now we want to kick on. New Zealand are likely to be our opponents at Sabina Park (Jamaica) and we are expecting nothing less than a fiercely competitive game,'' he added.

The left-handed batsman said, ''World Cup semi-final is what cricketers play the game for - the big matches. There is no point dwelling on what has happened. This team prefers to look forward and our focus is totally on what the next week has in store for us.

We will go into that game with a great heart despite a mixed week for us as a team.'' ''We all remember the bitter disappointment we experienced in 2003 when we lost to Australia in the semi-finals and we don't want to go through that again. We have an opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of that day and put it behind us,'' he told BBC.

He described New Zealand as a very good team but said ''we will concentrate on getting the basics right and if we can do that we know we have the talent and the potential to pull off something truly special.

''Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori are world-class bowlers. Bond is a phenomenal competitor and Vettori a canny operator. However, we believe we are more than capable of countering anything they launch at us.'' He mentioned Vaas' quite amazing record against Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming - ''he's dismissed him for a duck the last four times they have come up against each other and if that happens again it will be nice but past records will count for nothing and we know it's all about what happens on March 24 (semifinal day).

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