**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[Spark]

Dilshan was incredibly mild with his comments considering what the team went through.

About Broad's 'appealing', he was doing it when bowling for Notts in the County match that was televised on Sky. I assume he does it to try and con the umpires? It makes him look like an idiot, but until an umpire reports him for celebrating without appealing (which is a form of over-appealing and there is a law about it), he'll keep doing it as there is no reason to stop. It took Brett Lee being reported and fined for him to stop.

It's funny that his father is now a match ref when he had no respect for umpires at all. And it appears neither does his son.

I can't possibly imagine that any umpire would be dumb enough to give an LBW out because he celebrated rather than appealed. Nor do I think Broad is silly enough to believe that he could. No, I think it's just a bad habit he's picked up somewhere that he needs to make an effort get out of, possibly with some... external assistance.

 

[SamSawnoff]

I can't possibly imagine that any umpire would be dumb enough to give an LBW out because he celebrated rather than appealed. Nor do I think Broad is silly enough to believe that he could. No, I think it's just a bad habit he's picked up somewhere that he needs to make an effort get out of, possibly with some... external assistance.

It will take outside intervention to get him to stop as he's been doing it for about 2 years now.
since the West Indies tour 2009.

 

[Howe_zat]

Restart in an hour. 70 overs to be bowled.

 

[wpdavid]

Have no idea what type of bowler Dernbach is admittedly but Shazad seems the obvious like for like replacement.

Yup, he'd get my vote. Surely Finn is another version of what the side already has with Tremlett & Broad.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Bad news about Jimmy but i hope they make the sensible choice by ruling him out for the series and not rushing him back.

Can't wait to see how Cook and Trott etc go today after their winter heroics.

As for how we bowled, Jimmy was a class apart (we will miss him) Tremlett for me bowled too short for this pitch and Broad was a mixture of dreadful and good, maybe he was straining too much to get the landmark wicket. Swann did an ok job on a pitch offering less on day 2 than on day 1 for the spinner.

Sri Lanka look lopsided with a very good top 5 and the keeper batting perhaps too high, he did play very well in this game though and fully deserved the hundred.

 

[Jacknife]

If Jimmy's set to miss the next test match, I wouldn't go with Finn, for obvious reasons, of being too similar to the other 2 bowlers. Shahzad has been bowling pretty poor for Yorkshire, so as much as I'd like to pick him, I don't think he's bowling that well at the moment. The 2 guys I'd like to get picked but doubt they'd get a look, is either Woakes or Harris, who are more of a like for like with Jimmy, Harris has especially been bowling well this year.

 

[Uppercut]

Jimmeh gone already.

 

[Jacknife]

Should of smacked that through the covers, tossed up but pretty filthy delivery.

 

[Prince EWS]

Would definitely pick Finn. Just think he's pretty conclusively next in line.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Woakes is out injured. If they go for another swing bowler it will be (splutter) (choke) Dernbach.

Observations for the morning:
* Mendis reminds me of a 13 year old trying to bowl quick
* Anderson should stop trying to score runs
* Ashley Giles' kid has got massive ears

 

[Himannv]

I imagine SL will be annoyed with this interruption.

SL?? Annoyed by rain?? Of course not. We are used to having rain whenever we play a cricket match.

 

[Bun]

Woakes is out injured. If they go for another swing bowler it will be (splutter) (choke) Dernbach.

Observations for the morning:
* Mendis reminds me of a 13 year old trying to bowl quick
* Anderson should stop trying to score runs
* Ashley Giles' kid has got massive ears

the 13 yr old is yet to concede a run

 

[Neil Pickup]

Another observation: on the evidence of that slide tackle, Rangana Herath's fielding could rapidly attain cult status. What is it about left-arm spinners?

 

[Bun]

Real struggle from eng batsmen

 

[Bun]

RR falls below 2 .. dire

 

[Spark]

I don't think these two particularly care about RR tbh.

 

[Spikey]

tbf it's gonna take them awhile to adjust to not getting a free hit me ball on their pads three times an over

 

[Lostman]

Geez hope a wicket falls just to get KP in.

 

[SamSawnoff]

tbf it's gonna take them awhile to adjust to not getting a free hit me ball on their pads three times an over

And two short balls two feet wide of off stump that can be belted to the square boundary every over.

 

[Bun]

I don't think these two particularly care about RR tbh.

Surely you'd expect them to do better than that against... borrowing Niel Pickup' words "13 yr olds trying to bowl quick"??