***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[zaremba]

Watching the highlights now. Christ, we bowled some dross. PITCH IT UP FFS!

 

[YorksLanka]

Had a great day at headingley today and i think it was SL's day. we cleaned up the England tail cheaply and batted our way out of losing this games by an innings into a position where we have a chance to stay in the game. As others have said,i think tomorrow's new ball (and how England use it) will decide the fate of this test. If we can get through it and can get a lead of 250-300 by the end of tomorrow it will be an interesting last day. Hugely disappointed with Thirrimane (glad you agree with me now Maximas) Ali bowled ok but i would have expected Thiri to contribute- if Ali is getting turn then i will wait to see Herath run amok...Very interesting days test cricket coming up tomorrow..I think i was very lucky to be there to see Sanga's last test knock in England and it was a nice touch to see the crowd give him a great accolade as he walked off ,and in return him acknowledging each and every part of the ground.

 

[Maximas]

I agree in that he had a disappointingly unproductive series, not that he shouldn't have been picked, I hope he gets picked for the SA tests next month. Glad you had a good day at the cricket though mate.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Did the pitch flatten out during the day, or just poor bowling?

I saw the first session and never thought it was a 200+ for 4 at the end of the day looking wicket.

Did England drop any more catches after Jordan's clanger?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Why was Thirimanne in the team ahead of Chandimal in the first place?

 

[Maximas]

Why was Thirimanne in the team ahead of Chandimal in the first place?

Because Chandimal had been in poor form for a while leading into this series

 

[Dan]

The problem with shifting Mathews to open, as gun as it probably would be in terms of getting Chandimal into the side, not having to drop the VC, and getting rid of Karunaratne, is that opening + captaining + being the 5th bowler is a seriously massive ask.

 

[Maximas]

The problem with doing that is not only what you mentioned but also the fact that our current openers are doing a decent job, with the bulk of the batting talent in the middle order we need openers who are good at consistently getting starts - even if they don't go on, as long as they get through the new ball well (which this pair have done consistently since coming together late last year) they are doing their job. There's just no reason to change

 

[Maximas]

3rd Test: Australia v Sri Lanka at Sydney, Jan 3-6, 2013 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

With a more in-form and less injury depleted team, it's time to go one better than what we achieved at Sydney and win here, this time we've built partnerships instead of collapsing, and our bowlers are better than what we had then, plus they may enjoy the pitch a little more. There are two significant partnerships left in the batting line-up (including the one at the crease now) and then it's the tail, I would bank on about 35 runs being added with the tail, I'm hoping just one of them sticks around (all of them have done so at one point in their career) and we get more like 75 out of the last 4 wickets, but we'll see.

 

[Dan]

I really don't rate Karunaratne ftr, so that influences my judgement somewhat.

 

[Maximas]

He's not that good, and there are many test teams who would discard him, but for our purposes where the middle order forms the backbone of our batting rather than the top order and it's more important to just get a start than get big scores somewhat regularly he's suited to our set-up IMO.

 

[smash84]

So where are the sangers naysayers now?

 

[YorksLanka]

Did the pitch flatten out during the day, or just poor bowling?

I saw the first session and never thought it was a 200+ for 4 at the end of the day looking wicket.

Did England drop any more catches after Jordan's clanger?

a little bit of both added to the fact that we batted well too..

in terms fo the discussions on Karunaratne, i agree that he is not a great player however he is a decent player and i think that his scores in both innings ofthis match reflect that. As Maximus says, our openers are taking the pressure of the middle order by generally getting a decent opening wicket stand so well done to them and i cant see a reason to change anything. Iagree that Mathews is one of our best players of quick bowling however i would rather have him in the low middle order to prtoect the tail in tests, and to finish the innings with impetus in ODI's.

 

[YorksLanka]

I agree in that he had a disappointingly unproductive series, not that he shouldn't have been picked, I hope he gets picked for the SA tests next month. Glad you had a good day at the cricket though mate.

i know i was just pulling your leg buddy..I hope he get s a bagful against SA back home and gets his confidence back...

forgot to mention that the barmy army entertained us yesterday by adapting the three lions song from Euro '96 to "we're coming home, we're coming home, we're coming, England's coming home!" had the place in stitches of laughter..

 

[vic_orthdox]

He got left out of a squad and then retired, the board basically showed him the door, our batting options aren't that bad really, just didn't perform on this tour. This tour has certainly gotten me a little worried about what is going to happen on this tour in two years time and further on in the future though

Know he played out in Melbourne last year and is doing the same this coming season. Not sure if he is still here over winter.

 

[YorksLanka]

Solid player who was superb for us..have to admit tho I am a bit biased as our families are friends..

 

[Adders]

Picked a good day to go yesterday YL.......must be happy with your boys efforts??

Did you have much appreciation in the ground of how the pitch was playing at the end of Englands innings?? I was predicting carnage when Jimmy and Broad got let lose on it.......watched up until lunch and went to bed with the serious ****s on and was not terribly surprised to wake up this morning and see the game wide open.........a game that England should have won inside 3 days.

SL deserve to win this more now IMO........but the game is there for whoever fronts up in the first session this morning.

 

[Zinzan]

What a cracking day in prospect from a neutral perspective, let alone for an English or Lankan fan!

Is the wicket expected to deteriorate much on days 4 & 5 and would a lead of 280 be enough?

 

[Adders]

Is the wicket expected to deteriorate much on days 4 & 5 and would a lead of 280 be enough?

I'd say 280 would have the Lankans well in front......I;m not confident of us chasing 200 tbh. Herath will be a handful.

 

[YorksLanka]

Picked a good day to go yesterday YL.......must be happy with your boys efforts??

Did you have much appreciation in the ground of how the pitch was playing at the end of Englands innings?? I was predicting carnage when Jimmy and Broad got let lose on it.......watched up until lunch and went to bed with the serious ****s on and was not terribly surprised to wake up this morning and see the game wide open.........a game that England should have won inside 3 days.

SL deserve to win this more now IMO........but the game is there for whoever fronts up in the first session this morning.

yeah Thanks Adders, great day out. To be honest the heavy roller was put onto the wicket before play so i thought that England wanted to iron out any potential banana skins in terms of the wicket but i think our bowlers just bowled in the right areas. As for Englands bowling, there were certainly some very close calls and the drop from Jordan didnt help but i think that we just set out to ensure not losing by an innings as a mindset and it paid off. I also think that becasue it was Sanga and Mahela's last test innigs in England, that added more determination to both of them and hopefully Mahela will finish off in style with a big un.. As many have said, its all about how the new ball is used from here i reckon..should be a great day -shame i cant see any of it due to work