Sri Lanka v England 2nd Test Match Thread

[Duty281]

Not too early for this is it? After their 'heroic' defeat last Thursday, England will need a win to tie the series and preserve their no.1 ranking while Sri Lanka need a win or tie to win the series.

England's preparations haven't been helped by the fact that Broad will miss out due to injury while Sri Lanka's have been boosted by the news that Mathews will return from injury. Cricinfo predicts the following line-ups with two changes for each team:

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jaywardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dhammila Prasad, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Finn.

The pressure is really on Andrew Strauss, for his batting (justified) and his captaincy (unjustified). England's batsmen will also be feeling the heat as well - they haven't made over 400 so far this winter!

Keep an eye out for the rain, some is predicted on the first day. Game starts at 5:30 BST. Come on England!

[Biltong]

This starts tomorrow morning?

[Shelsey93]

Monty has to play for me. Because we might need to take wickets on the last day, on a turning pitch and I'm not sure Samit's up to that. If you look at recent matches at the P Sara Oval they have been quite spin friendly.

Two seamers is a risk and at Galle for the first time this winter didn't come off. If we really are concerned about our batting then we have to take that risk again and play Finn for Broad and leave Samit in the team. However, I'd like Bresnan to play, given that we need to win this match for more than one reason. So, I'm going to leave out Patel and take the plunge for five bowlers:

1 Strauss 2 Cook 3 Trott 4 Pietersen 5 Bell 6 Prior 7 Bresnan 8 Swann 9 Finn 10 Anderson 11 Panesar

Main issue is that we would now have a genuinely long tail

[Carrotdude]

I'd play Bresnan and Finn for Monty and Broad. I think we'll take 20 wickets and we could do without Monty's batting and 'fielding'.

[Shelsey93]

I'd play Bresnan and Finn for Monty and Broad. I think we'll take 20 wickets and we could do without Monty's batting and 'fielding'.

Strange how people have short memories though. Last week he was our number one spinner for the summer. Now he might not play on a turning pitch. I thought we realised after the 1st Test at Dubai that two spinners are a must in Asian conditions - at the time I wasn't bothered either way but I think the selectors have been proved right.

As someone who has had similar problems to Monty's in the field (albeit at a much, much lower level - Herts Div 13) I don't feel qualified to lambast him too much for that. He has shown great signs of improvement until Galle - perhaps the weather and the number of overs he had bowled muddled with his concentration.

[Carrotdude]

If the wicket turns more then he may have to play but I was disappointed in Galle, he showed almost no variation and wasn't a threat.

[Mike Selig]

That's kind of Monty's style though Carrotdude. He's never been someone with variation, he's a bit of an old-fashioned defensive spinner. The thing he's got going for him is he gets bite off the wicket if it's dry, and has good consistency. I think Swann and him make a good pairing, and agree with Shelsey that memories are very short (after the first innings all the talk was "Swann off the boil, Panesar now England's no 1 spinner" which was nonsense anyway).

The thing is I'm not convinced Patel can hold down an end like Monty does, or pose anything like the threat on a wearing pitch.

I'd go down fighting and pick the 5 bowlers.

[JDizzle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adammountford/2012/03/a_historic_venue_as_england_se.html

Doesn't look good for a result! Apparently the score on the scoreboard when he arrived was 631 and when the blog author asked the groundsman whether England should play two spinners the reply was "doesn't matter".

[Luke]

I know that he's not liked on this board. But i would be tempted to play Bopara today, hes a better batsman then Bresnan, and that maybe what we need. Espically if the top order fail again.

Though agree with the comments about Monty, i think he'll keep his place. As though hes not threatening he is a work horse who can allow our quicks a rest when required.

[Mad for Chelsea]

well England have gone without Monty, they obviously reckon the cracks on the pitch could open up and benefit their tall seamers.

Poor start from Strauss, losing the toss

Anderson has got rid of Dilshan, nibbling outside off and edging to Prior, SL 21-1. And Sangakkara gone first ball again! Strauss grabs it on the second attempt, lovely delivery from Anderson!

[Mad for Chelsea]

woops, Thirimane with a pretty ill-judged leave there, Anderson gets one to nip back a bit, pitches in line and is hitting middle-and-leg. SL 30-3, England once more among the wickets early on!

[ShahenshahG]

That time again I see. Get this and the other Jayawardene early and its Englands game.

[Biltong]

49/3 there's a familiarity about this. Surely Jayawardena isn't going to save them again?

[ShahenshahG]

I doubt theyll end up making 300 but more worried about Englands batting. Trott needs to do the business and others needs to give him support even if its only 20-40 runs at a time. Any batsman who makes a big also needs to continue playing and try to play the strike if the team needs to get out of trouble. None of this trying to blast way to victory because you are running out of partners. Was gutted for Trott but he should have continued to do what he needed to do rather than risking it.

[Biltong]

It's different being in the middle with all around you tumbling and looking at hindsight. He did what he thought was perhaps a calculated risk at the time, must have been confident to trust is eye and technique.

He did well so I think it is unfair to blame him.

[ShahenshahG]

I'm not blaming him for england losing, god knos theres 5-6 other people who shoulder the blame. not least the captain I'm just saying he should learn from that and try to command when he gets that far without taking risks. If the wickets are falling he needs to keep the other batsman under control and encourage him to play himself in while knocking it about so the tail faces less balls. Once a tailender has been at the crease for a while they begin to see the ball and can hold up one end. Trott has learned to play a tough tough innings and its time for him to shoulder a bigger burden because of his ability.

[Mad for Chelsea]

hang on, Trott was out brilliantly caught at leg slip ust trying to work a single to leg, as he'd been doing all day!

anyway SL have recovered pretty well here, boy do these pitches go flat once the ball softens! England made plenty happen in the first 10-15 overs or so, but not much since, need to just keep working hard I guess...

[ShahenshahG]

So he did. I might have mixed him with Prior. As usual dsiregard anything I say about cricket

[Biltong]

You meant well mate, and that is all we can ask. I usually drag on about something I know little about when I talk cricket anyway, none's the wiser yet, so I keep doing it.

[Mad for Chelsea]

worst shot was Patel I thought. Him and Trott were going along nicely, knocking it around for the easy singles on offer and for some reason he came down the pitch and tried to hit inside-out over cover, IDIOT!

[ShahenshahG]

Dunno why anyone rates him to be honest. Much prefer Bopara to him although he isnt much better.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Decent start but England really need to stop losing these tosses. The previous 3 were close enough that batting first couldve made the difference for England whove had the worst of the pitches

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Dunno why anyone rates him to be honest. Much prefer Bopara to him although he isnt much better.

People dont really, hes in the side because the England coaches are desperate for left arm spin options. With panessar dropped theres no way he wasnt going top play, and the previous game they probably wouldve picked bopara if he hadnt been injured.
Its hard to get a balanced attack when you also want to play 7 batsmen because they arent doing their job. What we've ended up with is a guy who cant bat or bowl to standard but does fill a specific role in the side.

[eirebilly]

Morning all, how has the first session been so far?

[ShahenshahG]

Go back to the last test and watch the first session Eirebilly

[Guest]

Saw the first 3 wickets this morning. Anderson bowling some absolute gems. Finn is bowling well. As I left for work Swann came on and Jayawardene looks settled at the crease

[eirebilly]

Haa haa, is it a mirror image?

[eirebilly]

So have England missed Monty?

[Guest]

Only time will tell billy. If the pitch starts to turn then the criticism will come by the bucket loads.

[eirebilly]

Fair enough legend.

[Guest]

Also it will be interesting to see how Patel bowls. If he takes some wickets, might prove to be a sensible option as Bresnan gives them add depth down the batting order.

[eirebilly]

I am really interested to see how Finn goes in this test

[mystiroakey]

Goodish start by england. Another glimmer of hope i suppose!!

[mystiroakey]

This Jay fella is certainly proven to be the differehnce between the two sides! top batsman- he is the key wicket!

[Biltong]

you have to admit he is brilliant at home though, over 60 average in their conditions.

Strangely enough this is not his best ground in Sri Lanka, he only averages 46 here.

[eirebilly]

Is that out?

[eirebilly]

Nope, i guess not

[Carrotdude]

Already looks like we're in for another tough Test, these 2 look set for a mammoth partnership and as soon as they've got more than 300 batting first we're screwed. Pitch will only get worse.

[Mad for Chelsea]

England need to just keep plugging away, Finn bowled a really good spell there without reward (if only hotspot were available eh...). Bresnan into the attack, probably the least threatening of England's bowlers so far but bowled good areas.

[eirebilly]

A nice 100 run partnership there. Well played

Still early days, a few quick wickets could see England back on top

[hampo17]

I have a horrible sense of Daja Vu

[alfie]

Looking similar to the last match.

Anderson has the first hour then Jayawardene takes over...

Only "watched" the first session on cricinfo but I gathered the impression that Finn caused some problems for the bats , though of course no wickets yet. ?

Pitch won't give bowlers too much today I guess , so England just need to keep working to build pressure ... get one of these and things might look a bit different , but at the moment it is looking like a good toss to win and Strauss seems to be short on luck at present.

[Carrotdude]

Patel still bowling. Why?

[Mike Selig]

England are bowling pretty well at the moment and importantly not just waiting for something to happen but creating things with short-pitched bowling. No sign of reverse swing yet. Not missing Panesar yet, Patel is doing exactly what he would have done and tying up an end.

Finn's bowled well without luck, Jayawardene has looked largely untroubled.

England would like to prise one out soon. Game very much in the balance at the moment.

[eirebilly]

Patel will get a wicket within the next two overs he bowls. Believe

[Guest]

Jayawardene is huge source of frustration. The boy is batting well. C'mon boys we just need that bit of good fortune!

[alfie]

Swan time ... Not a great start to this spell , short and Samaraweera helps himself to a four and a fifty...well played

How did Swann bowl earlier on ?

[eirebilly]

Got to be a wicket this over... Surely?

[Mad for Chelsea]

Swann bowled OK, created a couple of quarter-chances at short-leg. That was rubbish though.

England haven't had much luck in this series so far have they? need that to change, and quickly, otherwise this pair are batting them out of the series.

[Guest]

Not sure alfie. Looks like he has been put away to the boundary a few times.

England really need to break this partnership. Grrrrrrr

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