Well done Sangakkara scoring his 16th test hundred. He was dropped though on 98 by Bell (he does drop plenty doesnt he).

England have no chance of victory here and they should try to slow down Sri Lankas scoring rate to delay the declaration. Vaughn should take Anderson out of the attack as he is too expensive.

I think that Sri Lanka should bat till tea for the latest.

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434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

He bowls a 4 ball every over.Time to end his stuttering test career as a good performance every 5 games is not good enough.We should have played Broad.

The trouble is that Hoggard apart, England have not produced a single genuinely world class pace bowler in the last 15 years. Guys like Gough, Caddick, Flintoff, Harmison and Anderson have been too inconsistent to be relied upon and a lot of newcomers like Tremlett, Broad etc have already shown the same tendency.

Nostromo, IMO Caddick was a world class bowler, as good as anyone at that time.

Why has Jayawardene not declared yet. I know that it is only a 299 run lead but surely that is enough with Murali in the side. Considering that play has been called off due to rain or bad light on each day of this match, I think that Sri Lanka are being too scared to take a chance. Poor captaincy IMO. Sri Lanka need to win this test and they are in a good position. Next test, Jayasuriya will not be available and Sri Lanka will field an inexperienced opening pair. Also, I am sure the English selectors will not make the same mistake and hopefully they send Anderson back on a plane to England. Harmison should be fit and maybe even Swann can come in for Sidebottom. England will be stronger for sure.

What are your thoughts

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434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

Still over 30 overs to go today on paper and the weather was improving when I last checked. Eeven so, you are right because the SL pacemen have to bowl at least a few overs before Murali can come on and be effective. Jayawardene should not give the English batsmen a chance to appeal for bad light when the fast bowlers are on.

I'm assuming Jayawardene is more worried about England getting the runs. Not sure as he has reason to be so cautious, I'm sure England's fourth innings record against Murali must be pretty poor.

It is only poor captaincy if he fails to win!

Gough was absolutely a world-class bowler. His inconsistency stemmed mainly from problems with injury, which isn't really a reflection on his abilities as a bowler. He's easily England's greatest ever ODI bowler, and his Test record is better than anyone's in his generation, including Hoggard.

I disagree Ninj. Even poor captaincy can win a match but that does not take away the fact that the captain is poor. Murali may just win the match for Sri Lanka which will spare Jayawardene but if England draw the match which they are quite capable of doing provided that the umpires do not give any poor decisions, I think that he should be solely to blame.

Besides, what is the point of Vaas coming out there and blocking. If you are looking for a target to declare on, then at least try to get there quickly or is he looking for a time to declare. England will keep slowing down the game and you cant blame them. I can see play been called off with about 10 overs left to play which will mean that Murali will not get to bowl unless he bowls with a new bowl.

Edit: and now Sangakkara goes. He deserved to be not out.

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434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

What the hell is Jayawardene doing I mean, does he want to win this test or not - he should have declared when Sangakarra got out surely?

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