Sri Lanka in England

 Holy Mother Mary!!! Wat on eaarrrth... 

Originally posted by Sledger - the wicket was a little sportier , but not that sporty!

 Glad to see that you've lost none of you man ego or never yet ready to accept em follies , even after so many years of marriage! Haven't found many who've lasted that long.  As for mine, I just ain't married yet,fortunately.    (hope the girlfriend never joins this forum). 

Originally posted by spin wizard Match fixing anyone?

That's been bandied about SW , but there's no evidence of it and the Lankans looked genuinely shocked at the after match presentation.   Collapses happen - just ask England about the debacles against Australia (Adelaide) and that nightmare against the Windies not too long ago!

Sammie boy, after a while, captaincy takes its toll on players, too much is required of them like press conference etc.  Cut out half of those and people might last longer as skippers!

I just hope the England bowlers don't get carried away with bounce and bowl everything halfway down the pitch. It's extra bounce off a good length from the land of the giants bowling attack that will trouble the Sri Lankans.

 So SL field first. Their bowling attack looks much better than the last one with Welegedra and Fernando in. Still doesn't seem imposing enough to dismantle the English. 

Trott goes, leg before. I said it earlier in this thread, he plays across the line and is very legside dominant. If you can nab him , while he's still not settled in, by just holding that off to middle line then you've got a chance to get him out LBW. If he gets settled in, then you're in trouble, only Mark Waugh played that fluently off his legs (for a non Sub continental batsman).

It was absolutely England's day after being put in, and especially after being 22 for 3. Prior showed his value at No 7 again - he is easily capable of playing as a batsman alone in a Test side, especially when you consider that so-called strong team such as Australia insist on having a clown like Steve Smith as a No 6.

Day 1 to England indeed, this is why this English team is so good, even after those early losses they have the ability to bounce back hard. We saw them do that against PAK last year as well and then the English bowlers exploit their home conditions a lot better than the touring teams

First of all Smith is not a kid , he is 22 y.o. Now his FC average is about 43. Don't compare him to White who happens to be a top class batsman. So far what I have seen of Smith , he dosen't have anything in him to be in National squad in any format. I don't see any promise or class in him about his batting or even anything that says he deserves even a chance. Maybe Australia does not have any option left. For my money I would not pick him even for 3 or 4 string team with what I have seen of him.

Maybe he has failed to do what he is capable of on international stage.Maybe he bats too lower down the order to showcase his talent.I don't know, but if this is what he has got (what we have seen so far of him), then I suggest please don't keep any hopes on him.

 

Yes, he is a very good feilder for sure, then yes his action is somewhat similar to Warnie.

SL have an excellent opening pair I feel. Para is quite elegant and is a classical style test opener, with a good temperament - and is a left hander. While Dilshan, a right hander, is a dasher who likes to play his strokes. So far so good for SL, but 486 is extremely imposing. I'd like to see a statistic on how many times England have passed 400 in the last 12 months, I'd say it would be nearly every match!

  England's impressive batting on day 2 has been overshadowed by Dilshan and some very average bowling.  All three seamers were erratic and even Swann couldn't contain Dilshan. It was a typical Dilshan knock with the kitchen sink thrown at anything with any width. Yes , he played a missed a few times , but he always bats this way and he got his just reward.  That's the highest individual total by a Lankan at Lords and it was just a pity he didn't convert it to a double hundred.
                   The rain was disappointing , but the match is still very much alive and if the weather doesn't intervene a positive result is still possible.  From England's perspective they'll want early inroads this morning whilst the Lankans will be looking to consolidate and try and get a substantial first innings lead.   Broad and company need to forget what happened yesterday and make run scoring a much harder proposition than it has been so far.


Edited by Sledger - 06 June 2011 at 8:19am

Yes , Trott looked terrific yesterday , so confident and his timing was superb. The only surprise was when he yorked himself to get out!  Cook just went about his business yet again , punishing the loose ball and keeping out the good 'uns.  KP looked slightly better than he has of late , but anything but convincing.  He's still there though and maybe in better light he'll show us some of the old Pietersen aggression.
               A lead of 156 is surely more than England expected after the 1st session was washed out and still 7 wickets to get through.  They bowled better though and Finn became the youngest ever Englishman to take 50 test wickets - passing Ian Botham's record of 30 years ago by 6 months.  Finn's not the finished article by any means , he still sends down too much loose stuff and those short pitched efforts at the 10 and 11 cost him another 5-fer at the home of cricket. He has the happy knack though of picking up wickets and that's no bad thing!
               If the weather stays fine then there's 95 overs today and the possibility of another result. Dilshan is highly unlikely to bat , so England must be thinking of say , a lead of 300 and 50 overs at them to try and force a win.   The Lankans will be aware of the debacle of the last test and their last 7 wickets went down in less than 30 overs yesterday - it might well be 2-0 by 7pm tonight.


Edited by Sledger - 07 June 2011 at 6:50am

20 overs left, 7 wickets in hand (including Dilshan)... I think SL should make it through to a draw. But is a draw a good result for them? Sangakkara has really disappointed in this match I must say, really hasn't done well enough in this series and he is there best batsman. While Dilshan's injury is a huge blow, because his form is extremely good. If he misses the next match, who will skipper? There's no vice captain of this side, and Jaya and Sanga both don't want to captain. I'd say that one of them would do it on a temporary basis for the sake of the side....

 Could have been a tad more interesting had rain not taken away one and a half sessions away.

 Anyways both teams will have positives to take away and a few things to ponder about too. SriLanka and Dilshan has done well to have come back from that debacle at Cardiff, to wipe off such a huge first innings deficit to a meagre  six runs. A slap on the face for all those who said Dilshan could score only on sub-continent wickets, me included. Big blow for SriLanka not have him for the third.

 Meanwhile Sangakkara's got one last chance in England to set his record straight. Else the naysayers would always feast on that to belittle his genius. I can already see those eagles circling above him.