Sri Lanka cricket team left for New Zealand for a 2 match Test series and a 7 match One Day International series early today.

This is their first tour to New Zealand in eight years. Therefore, it is a novel experience for almost all the team members except a handful of seniors.

This will be the first Test series Sri Lanka will be playing after Mahela Jayawardene retired from test cricket. In the test squad, only Kumar Sangakkara has taken part in the 2006/07 tour of New Zealand.

Captain Angelo Mathews said that although it was a novel experience the team will try the best to get used to the climate and conditions in New Zealand. Although there is just 2 months for the World Cup, they will be more focused on this tour first, he added.

In the 2006/07 tour Sri Lanka took part in 2 T20s, 2 Tests and 5 ODIs. The Test and T20 series ended 1-1, while the ODI series ended 2-2. The last ODI was washed out.