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

[Prince EWS]

Mentioned it before and still have no idea why Kamindu is batting so low as he looks to be a player of quality

Middle order is very established with good records. Batting top 3 would be bit much given he doesn't even bat that high domestically. Seems fair enough.

 

[King Kane]

A good partnership building between Chandimal and Kamindu, Sanga is starting to get chirpy.

 

[social]

His average is back over 100 now in Test cricket , I wonder what's the most amount of test matches a batsmen has had an average of 100+ before it dipping, excluding the Don of course.

The Don scored 18 & 1 in his first test and was promptly dropped

Didn’t get his average over 100 for a few years

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

I would also add the following

Don’t dislike Woakes per se & I know that he’s a top class operator at home but it’s seems like the ideal season to try the next generation of quicks (if there are any & available)

The guy is 35 and hardly a guaranteed selection outside England

Are Atkinson and Potts not enough for you? Woakes is a bowler who can bat at 7, now is not the time to be making wholesale changes for the hell of it, this is a Test not a training game

 

[Howe_zat]

England have just been a bit **** this morning tbh.

The drag downs from Woakes and now Bashir a bit painful.

This isn't an attack with enough experience or confidence behind it that England can afford to 'experiment' much. Try winning this game first

 

[danzydab]

Gotta feel a bit for potts, could easily have been brilliant career-changing figures if we could catch, but could be his last match conceivably now, but with Wood injury he should be okay, but we'll see.

he will most likely get the whole series unless eng plan on debuting another bowler.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

he will most likely get the whole series unless eng plan on debuting another bowler.

Pennington is injured, so Potts looks pretty safe for this series

 

[social]

Are Atkinson and Potts not enough for you? Woakes is a bowler who can bat at 7, now is not the time to be making wholesale changes for the hell of it, this is a Test not a training game

Get what you’re saying but England’s next tour is Pakistan and I wouldn’t bet your money on him being successful there

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Get what you’re saying but England’s next tour is Pakistan and I wouldn’t bet your money on him being successful there

The all-rounder stocks are low at the moment, so Woakes’ position was always secure. Regardless, there’s no point in picking a squad here with a view to going to Pakistan as the pitches/conditions and the makeup of the bowling attack will be different, we’ve got one frontline spinner in the squad here, we’ll have at least 2 this winter

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

Pitch looking docile, which might not be the worst thing for England tbf

 

[ashley bach]

Just how good is Kamindu

 

[reyrey]

Nah they keep damaging the ball though. I get that dukes ball has been an issue in recent memory but England keep changing unusually the most. Others side don't resort to it as much
Finally getting highlighted

How are they damaging the ball though? All they are doing is bowling it into the pitch.

If one side kept the ball with good shine and got swing and the other didn't then it's not cheating either.

 

[Gob]

Love watching bashir bowl. It's not very often you get to see international cricketers with comparable skill levels to yourself

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

How are they damaging the ball though? All they are doing is bowling it into the pitch.

If one side kept the ball with good shine and got swing and the other didn't then it's not cheating either.

The bigger issue here is how are these balls getting damaged like this

 

[Gob]

How are they damaging the ball though? All they are doing is bowling it into the pitch.

If one side kept the ball with good shine and got swing and the other didn't then it's not cheating either.

England are renowned for ball tampering though. Remember Murray mints? That alone won them an Ashes series

 

[reyrey]

The bigger issue here is how are these balls getting damaged like this

The balls in England have been an issue since 2020 when covid shut downs caused a supply issue. One of the materials and/or a manufacturing process used had to be changed and for whatever reason they still haven't resolved it.

 

[The Brian Hardie Stance]

This is starting to have 2014 vibes.

 

[Silver Silva]

A 100 for Kamindu Mendis !

Wow what a knock , what an occasion, under all sorts of pressure and he's delivered a great innings in Manchester.

 

[LangleyburyCCPlayer]

A 100 for Kamindu Mendis !

Wow what a knock , what an occasion, under all sorts of pressure and he's delivered a great innings in Manchester.

Well batted Kamindu, 100 partnership up too

 

[Molehill]

This is starting to have 2014 vibes.

Given the forecast tomorrow, draw looking most likely. Not much life in this pitch now.