Sri Lanka v England

This should be a good test for England esp after doing well in the ODI's against PAK. SLN have become a very unpredictable team, they played some very good cricket in Australia but have been on a losing streak in the sub continent. 

Panesar's return to form can only be good for the side and again shows the advantage of turning the ball away from the right handers. Swann's gone a tad flat in recent months , is it me or isn't he ripping it like he did about a year ago?
           Lovely start to the tour by Jimmy Anderson , he's matured so much , in days gone by he just couldn't find the right length on slow Asian pitches - he's a gem now.   
              Should be good practice for the batsmen today against a useful SL XI attack. 

          The Asian Cup could be a real fill up for the tourists in that if SL make the final they'll only be getting home 4 days before the 1st test and have played no 4 day cricket for an age !  England's 2 warm up matches in this series and the 3 they played in Australia shows how keen they are to come out of the blocks quickly , come day 1 of the 1st test.


Edited by Sledger - 16 March 2012 at 5:34am

Great start for ENG, they win the warm up game by an innings! This series should be a really interesting one, such a shame it's only 2 games.

The second match is half way through. The England bowlers got a thorough workout, with Broad head and shoulders above the rest. I am sure they won't be overly concerned at toiling so long in the field as it is good conditioning, but they will be concerned at the rate runs came off Swann in particular.

Strauss and Trott have put on 116 so far for the 1st wicket, easily enough it would seem, and England will be desperately keen that Bell gets a few runs too.


Edited by Clobber - 21 March 2012 at 8:34am

I agree Clobs , it's a good workout for the lads but they'd have liked Bell to get some time in the middle.  I just can't see Patel making it BP , his bowling is distinctly average, I think KP's a better 3rd option !

Yep a good win , but two sporting declarations from the Lankans gave them the chance.  Bopara's injury does bring Patel to the fore , they'll be giving that wicket a thorough examination on Monday morning.  Finn's likely to miss out - I think him the unluckiest player currently playing international cricket - he's top notch but in Sri Lanka two spinners are compulsory. He's a bright lad and I think he's aware that he'll be a key player against SA in the summer.

England go in with 5 bowlers , Samit Patel makes his debut and Prior bats at 6. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. England made a fantastic start , with Anderson removing Thirimanne and Sangakkara with successive deliveries. Broad chipped in with the wicket of Dilshan and the home side were 15-3 ! They've recovered through Jayawardene and Samaraweera to be 66-3 at lunch.
            So England have 3 , even four spinners , if you take KP as the fourth !  I've been watching English cricket for many a year and I cannot remember an attack with 4 tweakers - if they go on to win, the selection will be hailed as a masterstroke.


Edited by Sledger - 26 March 2012 at 7:56am

Good point Mikey , Bresnan's more than useful , as we saw in Australia.  If the actual selection is slightly odd I believe picking 5 bowlers was the way to go. The intense heat and humidity in Sri Lanka really does drain an attack.

terrific innings by Mahela, real class throughout.

It was England's day for most of it, but those 2 drops by Monty (that second one, dearie me) have allowed SL to get up and beyond the 260-odd I am sure England were hoping to keep them to.

The only reason they are playing 3 spinners is because Bopara wasn't able to bowl - had he been, he would have played ahead of Patel.

Great innings by Mahela, he is a class act.

Originally posted by kahmad and why didnt they play Bresnan?

   I think he's not quite ready for the test arena , he's been out injured for quite some time.

      The Lankans all out for 318 with Anderson taking the last two wickets , Jayawardene last man out for 180 - just imagine what thats score would've been without him , 2nd highest scorer made just 27 ! 
       The wicket is up and down already , so for England to have any chance here they have to get a lead of around a hundred - parity simply won't be good enough.  I hope they've learnt their lessons from the Pakistan experience , although this spin attack is not of anything like the same calibre. Patience is the key (we're only just into day 2) , I've no doubts Cook and Trott will take their time , I'm unsure of KP and the rest.  
        They're rated #1 in the world - let them now go on and prove it.

matchwinning innings from Mahela, i would say. Even against this spin attack England will show their weakness. There wasnt any time when they played spin well, so why this time?
The odi series against Pakistan was different as there wasnt any turn. Still there were Cook and Pieterson who  performed.
Its a big challange forEngland here to play spin as well.

good start for England to get Dilshan early but it wont help England. SRL need just 100 more on the board to win this test. A lead of around 200 must be enough

the bowlers must be getting heartily sick of the efforts of their batting colleagues by now

Edited by Clobber - 27 March 2012 at 2:32pm