Sri Lanka were sufficiently confident in their preparations for the Lord's Test against England for captain Angelo Mathews and four of his compatriots to skip a final practice session on Wednesday.

After a thrashing in the opener in Headingley - and a big defeat at Chester-le-Street, Sri Lanka will be looking for some consolation when they face England in the third and final Test at Lord's.

Conditions in London will be much more to the tourists liking in the capital and coach Graham Ford has already seen a change in his squad.

SOUNDBITE (English): Graham Ford, Sri Lanka coach

(Are you expecting the conditions at Lord's to suit you much better?)

"Well, certainly the boys are a lot happier in this temperature. The sun shining has made a huge difference to everything in the camp. And the pitch looks as though it is going to be really good one. So I would like to think that ... as I mentioned earlier, the Headingley experience was extremely tough ... I would like to think this is going to be a lot more normal for our guys and hopefully the hard work that they have put in these last few days pays off."

Angelo Mathews didn't attend the training session, but Ford quashed any rumours of the Sri Lankan skipper being injured.

SOUNDBITE (English): Graham Ford, Sri Lanka coach

(On the absence of captain Angelo Mathews from training and the press conference)

"No, Angelo is fine. We have had a pretty hectic time both in the training ground as well as a few functions and things. I think he is pretty happy with where he is at with his game. So as usual, he gets the time off and I get to come to work."