***Official*** England vs Sri Lanka 21st August-10th September 2024

[govinda indian fan]

Bad toss to win for sl

 

[Howe_zat]

An oddly low-intensity day but it's what you often get with a massive target that they don't get near.

The first test was a lot more competitive and had better performances from both sides imo, this one was mostly just Joe Root being a class apart. Obviously Atkinson has had a great test too but I think he'd agree the innings on day 1 was a lot more impressive and impactful than his bowling figures here.

 

[King Kane]

It happens, NZ once made Ebadot Hossain look like Allan Donald

Touche

NZ are capable of making average players look like world beaters too.

 

[Howe_zat]

Looking, I think there's only been one previous instance of a player getting a hundred and a five-for in the same test and the POTM award going to someone else. 100 tragic points on offer if you can guess it.

N.B. POTM awards usually weren't awarded before the 1980s.

 

[ashley bach]

Doesn't beat a player getting 10 wickets in an innings and not getting the award.

 

[MW1304]

It's a bowler's game

 

[King Kane]

Looking, I think there's only been one previous instance of a player getting a hundred and a five-for in the same test and the POTM award going to someone else. 100 tragic points on offer if you can guess it.

N.B. POTM awards usually weren't awarded before the 1980s.

Phil Tufnell?

 

[ashley bach]

Botham?

 

[Howe_zat]

Phil Tufnell?

Botham?

Nope, Beefy was rewarded for all his ton & five-for efforts with the gong, except the one from the Before Times when no one got them.

Phil Tufnell not widely known for allround excellence, though in terms of era that's a closer guess.

It wasn't an England player.

 

[The Brian Hardie Stance]

Nope, Beefy was rewarded for all his ton & five-for efforts with the gong, except the one from the Before Times when no one got them.

Phil Tufnell not widely known for allround excellence, though in terms of era that's a closer guess.

It wasn't an England player.

Jadeja?

 

[King Kane]

I've read Phil Tufnell's autobiography, I borrowed it from the Hounslow library, I'm probably the only person that has borrowed that book from there.

It wasn't the best cricket autobiography I've read but I had already read all the other cricket autobiographies there and Tuffers was the only one left.

 

[GIMH]

I was gonna guess Mitchell Johnson but decided I’d check it out instead. He came close!

 

[Howe_zat]

I'll post it since it's pretty obscure.

Spoiler: Hint 1

It was in the 90s in Pakistan. Wasim Akram was awarded POTM.

Spoiler: Hint 2

It was a Zimbabwe player, in the drawn match where Wasim hit his double hundred.

Spoiler: Answer

Paul Strang at Sheikhupura 1996. He hit 106* at the end of Zim's 375, then took 5-212 as Pakistan hit 553 to draw the game.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Duckett 5–don’t blame him for the second innings hit-out, but he put the team under a bit of pressure in the first innings when the pitch looked great for batting
Lawrence 2–not an opener
Pope 4–failed with the bat again, which is a concern given it’s his primary job, but to give credit to him, great run-out and I thought his captaincy was pretty good again, some smart field placings bought wickets and it was a wise decision not to enforce the follow-on. Reviews were horrible, perhaps he’s being easily led by the senior players, but being captain doesn’t give you an enhanced sense of hearing!
Root 9–enjoy him while you can lads
Brook 6–see Duckett
Smith 5–probably the shakiest match of his fledgling Test career, two starts with the bat and a few byes. Perhaps he needs to be stronger with reviews, but he is still young and inexperienced, you’d hope that will come with time
Woakes 7–not much with the bat, but ever reliable with the ball
Atkinson 9–his great start to Test cricket continues, was already looking a handy number 8, but if he can bat even a quarter as well as he batted in the first innings we’ll be laughing
Potts 7–don’t know if he’ll play abroad, but a handy enough replacement for Stokes and got some useful lower order runs
Stone 7–encouraging return to Test cricket, sharp enough pace too
Bashir 6–felt a bit incidental, job was done by the seamers mainly

Madushka 4–perhaps a bit lucky to keep his place, thought Mendis was a bit harshly treated, I’m sure he’ll be looking over his shoulder again
Karunaratne 6–a morale-boosting 50 after a softish dismissal under slightly more difficult conditions than England’s first innings
Nissanka 4–see Madushka
Mathews 6–got a good ball in the first innings, but I wouldn’t say unplayable, stuck around for a bit in the second in a thankless task
Chandimal 7–a start in the first innings, a fun little 50 in the second
Dhananjaya 6–a good 50 with the bat, and in terms of his captaincy his plan for Pope worked to perfection, but unfortunately it just paled in comparison with his decision at the toss
Mendis 7–a gem, get him up the order
Rathnayake 7–meh with the ball, handy with the bat
Jayasuriya 4–didn’t happen for him
Asitha Fernando 8–Sri Lanka’s best player this series, I’m sure the counties will be on red alert!
Kumara 5–looked Sri Lanka’s most threatening bowler for a while, but tired. I got the pick, but I feel if you want to use him as an enforcer (like an Aldi version of Mark Wood), Sri Lanka could do with an extra seamer

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Part of me would really like to see Cox and Hull for the next Test (perhaps Hull has a better shout as you wouldn’t want to overwork Stone), but England didn’t make any changes after the West Indies series was won so I don’t think they’ll be making any changes here

 

[Silver Silva]

Congratulations England on a great performance

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Congratulations England on a great performance

Thank you! How do you feel about Sri Lanka’s performance? Ultimately, England did play better, but how do you think the game would have played out if Dhananjaya had chosen to bat first? Despite our top order frailties, it’s a risky ploy to try to get a whole team out cheaply, I suppose the game would have been very different had Root’s LBW review been a smidge lower and towards middle, but umpire’s call is there for a reason!

 

[reyrey]

Lawrence 2–not an opener
Smith 5–probably the shakiest match of his fledgling Test career, two starts with the bat and a few byes. Perhaps he needs to be stronger with reviews, but he is still young and inexperienced, you’d hope that will come with time
Potts 7–don’t know if he’ll play abroad, but a handy enough replacement for Stokes and got some useful lower order runs
Bashir 6–felt a bit incidental, job was done by the seamers mainly

Another failure from Lawrence and it's probably time to move on completely from him.

Smith was probably knackered from keeping (plus batting) in back to back Tests. It's not his regular gig.

Ex players in Sky comms think Potts with his muscular, hit the deck, heavy ball style of bowling might stand him well in away Tests. I'm not so sure, but I he'll probably get a chance abroad at some point.

Tough for a young spinner to learn his craft at Test level. If some of the stronger teams and better players completely take apart Bashir then I can see England going back to Leach.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Another failure from Lawrence and it's probably time to move on completely from him.

Smith was probably knackered from keeping (plus batting) in back to back Tests. It's not his regular gig.

Ex players in Sky comms think Potts with his muscular, hit the deck, heavy ball style of bowling might stand him well in away Tests. I'm not so sure, but I he'll probably get a chance abroad at some point.

Tough for a young spinner to learn his craft at Test level. If some of the stronger teams and better players completely take apart Bashir then I can see England going back to Leach.

Other than him scoring at a Rootian rate, Lawrence was never going to keep his place as an opener, and he’s down the pecking order for a place in the middle order too, on a hiding to nothing really. Crawley will come back in at some point (is he on course to play in Pakistan?) and we won’t be any worse off, but I do feel for him a bit. Without wanting to get ahead of ourselves, I think Smith will go up the order in the not too distant future and will give up the gloves (we have a number of viable alternatives!). Potts is bowling much quicker than he was (he used to be Woakes pace and now he’s up around the pace of Atkinson and Stone), which will help him! I wouldn’t be opposed to him going abroad, though I hope it’s not because Stokes isn’t fit! It’s hard for Bashir against a decent batting lineup who grew up eating spin for breakfast, on pretty unhelpful surfaces. Hard to know exactly how to develop him, but I think he’s doing fine for now

 

[Silver Silva]

Thank you! How do you feel about Sri Lanka’s performance? Ultimately, England did play better, but how do you think the game would have played out if Dhananjaya had chosen to bat first? Despite our top order frailties, it’s a risky ploy to try to get a whole team out cheaply, I suppose the game would have been very different had Root’s LBW review been a smidge lower and towards middle, but umpire’s call is there for a reason!

I don't think the belief was there.
To look at that Lords pitch and decide to bowl on day one was such a timid move, we only performed well when we were playing catch up cricket instead of forcing the issue when the game was in the balance, so England fully deserve the win.