"I really hate Sri Lanka's cricket team. They are such dicks, arrogant pricks and full of shit" Said no one ever and the lovely Sri Lankans have snuck into Aotearoa for a few Tests while all kiwi eyes were trained on a country that is much easier to dislike (Australia).

Sri Lanka - just like every Test nation - is in a very interesting position as they go about refreshing their Test squad following the retirements of two of the greatest cricketers to grace our planet. With Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene enjoying their international retirements, Sri Lanka's general weakness against typical kiwi bowlers in typical kiwi conditions will once again be put in the spotlight and they won't have either of those two to help bail them out.

They do however have Angelo Mathews and this guy is Sri Lanka's Superman. We have seen a fair bit of him and he's been Sri Lanka's Test skipper for a few years now, acting as a bridge between the golden generation and the new generation. When kiwis get all excited about Kane Williamson, they usually compare him to the likes of Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, AB de Villiers, Alistair Cook and so on while commentators from around the world do the same with their local batting hero, neglecting the staggering numbers that Mathews has stacked up in recent years.

Since the start of 2014, Mathews has averaged 61.25 with the bat and he's scored five centuries in that time as an all-rounder. Throw in the fact that he has scored almost half of all his runs in the past two years and you've got a guy who has fully embraced leading his country in Test cricket. This year Mathews has averaged 46.18 in nine Tests, with all of these runs coming while Mathews also offers good all-round value as he's a solid bowling option in combination with his front-line bowlers. In 2015 Mathews has seen his bowling average hover around 30 and while he's not going to deliver anything over 135km/h, his nibbling medium-pace could be exactly what Sri Lanka need on Aotearoa's pitches.

Other guys who Sri Lanka will rely heavily on to lead an inexperienced group with the bat are Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal. Karunaratne scored 93 in Sri Lanka's warm up game last week and while he is still yet to truly establish himself as a world-class Test opener, he has scored two of his three Test centuries this year. Chandimal will bat further down the order and has a Test average of 45.63 to his name. Karunaratne, Chandimal and Mathews will all take up spots in the top six (Mathews could bat at no.5) and will be tasked with showing the young pups how to deal with adversity on foreign soil.

The young pups provide plenty of funk compared to previous tours to Aotearoa as they will all be looking to make their mark and establish themselves in Test cricket. Kusal Mendis opened in the tour match and is a 20 year old right-hander with little to no First Class experience, let alone Test experience. Joining Mendis are Udara Jayasundera and Kithuruwan Vithanage, two 24 year olds who have far more First Class experience and both boast FC averages over 40.

Ah the bowlers, where Sri Lanka have been quietly building a bowling attack that could give them success away from home (if their batsmen can see off the moving ball). Leading the bowlers is Rangana Herath, the veteran left-arm tweaker who is in the 'Best Spinner In The World' conversation where he probably falls behind Ravi Ashwin and Yasir Shah. Herath enjoys the conditions of Asia, yet his style is also suited to kiwi conditions where he will be asked to lock up one end as the seamers are rotated from the other.

Nuwan Pradeep have been toiling away for Sri Lanka over the past few years and is arguably one of the most promising seamers Sri Lanka have seen in Test cricket for some time. Pradeep was set to partner Dhammika Prasad with the new ball, only for Prasad to suffer a back injury and to subsequently be replaced by leftie Vishwa Fernando.

Pradeep is my pick of Sri Lanka's seamers to watch out for as he's had a good year so far and should enjoy favourable conditions; in seven Tests this year, Pradeep has taken 22 wickets and took 7/180 (4/63 and 3/117) in his last outing on our shores earlier this year.

These two should feature as the two main seam bowlers for Sri Lanka and they will have support from Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera. Lakmal has only played two Tests this year while Chameera is the baby of the attack at 23 years old, yet despite only playing two Tests so far, he has 26 FC games to his name with 63 wickets.

Sri Lanka could roll out Pradeep, Lakmal and Chameera as their bowling attack with Mathews to bowl a few overs and Herath to offer spin. Don't be too surprised to see this Fernando fellow get a run though; he's the only left-arm seamer and has 103 FC wickets in 36 games.

It's hard to expect Sri Lanka (or any Asian team) to come to Aotearoa and fire, pushing the BLACKCAPS hard over five days. This is especially the case with a young Sri Lankan side without their OG's of yester-year to guide them through the kiwi minefields of seaming decks, yet I'm excited to see what this Sri Lankan squad can do. They have nothing to lose and plenty to gain, plus they still have a few of the world's best cricketers in their midst so don't assume that the BLACKCAPS will easily deal with Sri Lanka.