How to tackle Lankan heat? Train in a sauna, says Gough

Former England fast bowler Darren Gough has some advice for the English team that aims to conquer Sri Lanka in their own backyard -- train in a sauna to battle the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka.

Gough said high temperatures would be a challenge for England.

"Sri Lanka is the hottest and hardest place to play Test cricket because the heat and humidity is overpowering - it's like the top shelf of the oven. When we won the Test series there 2-1 in 2001, after going 1-0 down, it was ­probably the most satisfying win of my England career," Gough was quoted as saying by the Mirror.

"I was warned it was going to be hotter than anything I had experienced before. So I decided that extreme conditions required extreme preparations - I used to train, fully-clothed, in the sauna. In Galle, the heat is so fierce I seem to remember bowling in one-over spells, and resorting to off-cutters from a six-pace run-up. There were times on that trip when I was grateful for those hours in the sauna," he said.

Gough revealed that he once prepared to work up a head of steam in Sri Lanka by training fully-clothed in a sauna. Gough shared the new ball 11 years ago when the Nasser Hussain-led England recovered from a rash of ­scandalous umpiring decisions in the first Test to win the series 2-1.