I feel that will be easier said than done. Even on day 1 Monty was getting appreciable turn. I wonder would Murali thinks of that.....

IMO England have to be positive against Murali. If they just look to survive he will run through the team fairly easily. It was intersting reading Warnes thoughts on this subject. He feels England have to be positive against Murali and like a lot of people he's noticed that when Murali is atrtacked he bowls faster and flatter and sets more defensive fields.

I reckon England will need a lead of at least 150+ if they want to win because i cant see England scoring many in the 4th innings on that wicket.

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Mark.

Yes he is outstanding - quite an achievment for a medium paced seamer, just shows that a medium paced need that bit extra - and Hoggard has it by the bucket full - he would walk into any side at the moment.

The trouble is he has been compared to Hoggard - and a Hoggard he is not, he is no more than a fastish medium pacer who need help from the wicket to be effective.

That's why Swann would IMO have been a better selection than Sidebottom, in particular with Anderson bowling with control.

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Ern

Yes, but you can't really count on Anderson bowling with control, can you? Anderson seems to me to be fairly inconsistent in Tests (I think his economy's about 3.7), so I think generally Sidebottom is a better choice, as even if he's not taking the wickets you can rely on him to at least keep it tight.

Bell makes 83 before succumbing to the Kandy man. How will Ern make this bad on Bell now?

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Frank Skinner: "You know when Glenn McGrath trod on that cricket ball? Don't you wish it would've been a landmine?"

Marvellous. Now, if Prior got bamboozled by a jaffa from Murali, fair enough. But caught at mid-wicket, off a Fernando half-volley? Give me strength.

Because he should have scored a ton .

Prior fails again when the pressure is on, can someone remind me why he is in the team.

If the weather stays OK I think England will lose now. They havent played Murali very well and the wicket will get more uneven as the match goes on. If we have to chase more than 100 to win I think we will struggle.

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Mark.

What a great game this is,much better than the snoozey runfest in India.

Well bowled Hoggy and Murali who have shown their class in this game and Sangakkara and Bell have looked different class to all the other batsmen in this match,i guess Ern will be gutted by Bell showing form .

This match is well poised as England have to bat last and any sort of lead could be vital,if Colly can nurse us to a 50 run lead that might be enough as the Sri Lankan batting looks extremely vulnerable Sangakkara and Jayawardene apart.I wouldn't want to pick a winner at this stage as this could easily be decided by one big session first up tomorrow.

Agreed on both points! I still feel if England cant fashion out a decent lead tomorrow they'll lose.

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Mark.

If England are to avoid a 3-0 loss in the series they must be more positive against Murali. Cricinfos articles are occasionally poor but for once they have written some sense.

If England let him bowl at them he will continue to run through them.

For the full article Cricinfo - Bell shines amid the gloom

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Mark.

Quite easy to answer SS - I have always maintained that I would include Bell in an England team playing on subcontinental wickets, I have been consistent on that point.

However I still maintain that Bell is not a genine test player like say Gooch, Gower or even Stewart - the reason being has had two chances against Australia, and blown his chances both times and is not that consistant.

What makes this worse if the fact the he was dropped in Pakistan in 2005 after is poor showing in the ashes series, got back into the side because Vaughan was injured,He then went on to prove he could bat against the slower type bowlers, only to play poor again in Australia 2006.

Well that's one way of looking at it, but I would play Anderson every time if Flintoff or Harmison are injured - at least he provides some variety - Hoggard is an automatic selection, and that keeps Sidebottom out if three seamers are being played - the attack say of Hoggard - Sidebottom and Broad is just to one paced.

Also with respect I don't quite get your point, Sidebottom is playing in this test - Anderson has not took his place.

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Ern