England vs Sri Lanka 3rd test debate

First topic message reminder :

As i'm going on holiday tonight I decided to do the 3rd test debate thread a little bit sooner.

Anyways the squads:

England

Andrew Strauss (C)
Alistair Cook
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Eoin Morgan
Matt Prior (WK)
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Chris Tremlett
James Anderson
Steve Finn

Sri Lanka

Tharanga Paranavithana
Lahiru Thirimanne
Kumar Sangakkara (C)
Mahela Jayawardene
Thilan Samaraweera
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jaywardene (W-K)
Thissara Perera
Suraj Randiv
Ajantha Mendis
Rangana Herath
Dilhara Fernanado
Chanka Welegedara
Suranga Lakmal
Farveez Maharoof

C'mon England!

Cowshot wrote:Aha! Swann!

Now this will be interesting. Tuffers says there are some footmarks for him to bowl into.

Oh, according to TMS, the laterst forecast for tomorrow is much better and we should get a fair bit of play.

Shame we've no chance.

oh dear. so my fear we declared too soon and gave them a sniff at winning was right. if we've blown this series i will not be happy.

Broad has started pretty well here, making tha batsmen play, and nice pace too.

Hmm. Think my local might be showing this. Will have to pop out and see. Not going to get any highlights, by the sound of it.

fine over from Swann, Sangakkara trying to get after him, but Swann holding his own beautifully. Another maiden, he's a great bowler to watch.

Its getting very interesting now with Sri Lanka's start. Looks like it will be a draw.

Broad bowling a good probing spell here, he's bowled well in tandem with Swann before, another reason he should be bowling first change?

or an SL win Billy.

trebellbobaggins wrote:or an SL win Billy.

good stuff trebs, stick at it mate

Sri Lanka cant win from here trebs. It will take a monumental effort by them

Its like the irresistable force meeting the immovable object.

England bowling well (at least not shipping runs) but Thirimanne and Sangakarra equal to it.

Can't see any more wickets falling today, but maybe tomorrow England can get amongst them. New day, fresh start and all that.

Swann trying all his tricks out there, varying the pace, flighting some, then darting one in. Great stuff, but Sanga's equal to it so far.

good old fashioned test cricket this. Proper contest between bat and ball.

Lloyd on TV: "India don't want to use the DRS, I've got a great solution. Let England use it but not India"

Solid batting from these two. Just what Sri Lanka needed

I'd be tempted to give Jimmy a few overs before the close to see if he can get it reversing a bit. Credit to these two, they've knuckled down and done a really excellent job. Tremmers goes past the outside edge a couple of times

and Tremlett strikes, similar to the first wicket, goes across the left hander who nicks it, and this time it's Strauss who pouches the edge safely in the slips.

Big wicket for Tremlett

this is interesting, Pietersen on for a bowl. Hoping to induce a moment of silliness from Sangakkara?

and KP has Jayawardene in a spot of bother there, driving just past short extra cover, before missing one that went straight on. Interesting.

Jaya doesn't sound happy against Tremlett's steep bounce. Could be another wicket any minute.

Pietersen sounds as though he's bowling quite well. Apart from the last ball

Arguably Sri Lanka's two best batsmen at the crease now. These two will really take some shifting. Think England will be bowling at them for a while tomorrow.

Nice job by CT and Strauss to get rid of Thirimanne.

pretty standard from KP really cowshot. Some very decent deliveries and some fairly rubbish ones, but he's causing a few problems. Broad back on, bowled well in his first spell I thought. Great moment from Sir Ian Botham there "no one's going to catch that, that's four". A second later Morgan flings himself full length and keeps it in

chuckle. Good old Both!

Cricket for the purist this evening. Have to say I'm enjoying every second.

Got him! Beauty from Broad and Jayawardene to be fair does pretty well to nick that one through to Prior. Broad has bowled much much better today and that's a well deserved wicket. Comes at an important time too. Can England prise out another before the close?

Great ball from Broad, this makes things interesting again.

Cracking delivery from Broad and one of Sri Lanka's best batsmen gone! Big wicket that one. Puts that much more pressure on Sri Lanka to hold out tomorrow.

Wonder if my earlier post had anything to do with that?

It's as if the wicket t'other day has boosted Broads confidence.

Interesting game. If we get a full day tomorrow then SL could have Eng chasing a tricky 100-150.

England definitely in with a real chance now.

IF Strauss and Flower have been trying to bowl Broad into form, I'd say it's looking like they've succeeded.

that ends a very good day of cricket, and if the weather holds we could have another fascinating day tomorrow as England try to push on for victory. Unfortunately it'll probably rain all day...

looking like it might be nice tomorrow then?

weather forecasts really are pointless, might as well just look outside.

If it's a full day then it could go either way. Interesting.

Forecasts for tomorrow seem all over the place. Basically anything from a rain of frogs to bright sunshine seems on the cards.

Interesting days play, Pieterson almost looked decent batting today. Key word ALMOST

Bell played beautifully tho

Sadly I shall be at work and missing it all.

Watching the Ch5 highlights. Gosh Bell looks good. Morgan too. Not sure to what extent average bowling is helping.

Good days play in the 3rd test. Very positive stuff from England and a pleasure to watch at times today. Had England been given more than the measly 200 overs , that the rain has robbed them of , so far England would have won this match by an innings.

I wouldn't be so sure Key, you could argue that the rain has hit both sides equally hard

Rain helps Sri Lanka survive. Generally, rain favours the weaker side and I think it does here.

Mind you, Thirimanne is a find for the Sri Lankans, I'd say. That was a heck of a roasting for a 21 year old especially from Tremlett and he did well, imo.

The weather has made a mess of this series but we've looked stronger throughout.

Too late now but if there is a next time and a 3 match series against them here. Then I hope SL play more warm up games and the bloody weather dries up.

Well, yes and no. We've lost a lot of play - only the first two days at Lords and today have been uninterrupted.

But I've found it a most enjoyable series nonetheless. And there has been genuine interest in watching England trying to make the most of what they get.

England will win on Monday.

Problem being for England is that Sri Lanka arn´t too far behind. England will have to look to take wickets while not trying to concede many runs.

I wouldn't worry too much about the runs. It's wickets that are likely to settle this, and I think England have too many, in good form, to need to worry. If Sangakkara goes early Sri Lanka will really struggle to save this game. It isn't going to be easy even with him at the crease.

Gregers wrote:I wouldn't be so sure Key, you could argue that the rain has hit both sides equally hard

Not really, the second test was only heading toward an England victory, Sri Lanka got a draw due to a large number of overs lost to rain. This test is heading exactly the same way, England would have been in an even more dominant position if they hadnt had to rush their innings. Over a days play has again been lost to weather already ( plus deliberatly slow over rates from Sri Lanka). If there were two days play in this test it would be almost impossible for Sri Lanka to win or draw.
The only advantage England may have gained from the weather is some interuptions upsetting batsmen who were in.

Yes Sri Lanka going into this test would have wanted it dry since they need a result, but once they were bowled out cheaply and England were batting well the weather has strongly favoured them and given them their only chance of a draw.

ps latest forcasts Ive seen have it as dry earlyu then rainy in the afternoon, could get very intersting if England are chasing a small total ... the umpires could find themselves strung up if they mess tea up again!

Forecast seems to suggest that once the rain arrives, that'll be it for the day. Whether or no, the solution is to wrap things up this morning. Interesting to see if we can do it.

morning everyone. England really need some quick wickets to have any chance, but no real signs of alarm so far for SL. The pitch looks to be playing pretty well still, as it should (it's effectively a day three wicket)

All seems very easy for SL at the moment.

Argh! Dropped!

And good morning MfC.

very very rare for England to drop a slip catch, they're normally pretty flawless in there.