Sri Lanka team: Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya, Vandort, Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, Silva, Mubarak, P Jayawardene, Vaas, D Fernando, Malinga, Muralitharan.

England team: England: Cook, Vaughan, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood, Bopara, Prior, Sidebottom, Hoggard, Anderson, Panesar.

Latest score at 06:59 is Sri Lanka 62 - for 5 wickets down.

Bowling.

Hoggard - 10.0-3-21-4.
Anderson - 6-2-19-0.
Sidebottem - 8-0-37-1.
Just a little dissapointed that England did not start on this occasion with Swann (5 Bowlers).

Please post your match comments here - Thank you.

Good to see the England selectors went for Anderson, being they could not select Harmison - thus far he has played with some control.

England getting the better of the early exchanges which Hoggard in very good form, this is encouraging for England.

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Ern

Great to see Matthew Hoggard bowl well, as he usually does. I think a lot of people under-appreciate Hoggard, who is a quiet, decent man who gives his all to the team and is usually fit and available. On-offers like Harmison, Anderson and Flintoff always seem to make the headlines while everyone simply takes poor Hoggard for granted. I have always felt that he is a great bowler and when he retires, he deserves a place in cricket's hall of fame.

Agreed - but there is always a place for any type of bowler given condition, Hoggard is the best swing bowler of his type, maybe even in the world at this moment.

Sri Lanka have fought back - 142-5.

Panesar goint at 5 an over at the moment, and Sidebottom going for 4 an over, but claimed a wicket.

Anderson has bowled 11 overs for 30, no wickets yet but is bowling with good control.

What will be a good score for Sri Lanka to reach on this wicket - 300 maybe, or as near as possible,

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Ern

If he stays fit I can see him becoming Englands all time wicket taker and then he will get the credit he deserves.

Agreed again about Hoggard, he currently is the best of that type of bowler. He's bowled well again on a flat pitch. It seems to me as if hes getting better with each series he plays.

Sidebottoms been disapointing today. He's lacked the control he's renowned for and from what i've seen offered little movement. Hopefully this is just a bad day....

Both Panesar and Sidebottom are both going at over 4 an over. England would expect these two to be the most economical bowlers.

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Mark.

Maybe so, but between now and then I'd like to see him improve his record a bit. His strike rate's fine, but his average could be lower, and an economy of 3.25 really is too much for that style of bowler.

Since the beginning of 2006...
The economy rate and average took a pasting in Australia.. but bowling with the dreaded kookaburra in a 5 Test series without once encountering a sporting pitch... he should be able to have those figures struck from his record should he so wish!

That was a classical display of swing bowling. He is one of a dying breed - certainly Australia hasn't had one since Damian Flemming.

The problem with the classical swing bowler of course is that they are vulnerable in certain condition. But of course in others (such as today) they are deadly.

Kudos to Sangakarra of course as well. If there is a classier batsman playing the game at the moment, i would like to know who. Still annoyed he didn't play at the Gabba this year - thank god for the television!

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Panesar fights back well to bag himself 3, including the wicketkeeper Jayawardene. Collingwood took an amazing catch off Anderson. Shaky start for England, Bell and Vaughan need to see off the rest of the day.

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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?"

Well, Bell came in after a bad start by England, and steers us to stumps day 1.

Bell 36* (44), Vaughan 13* (55). Vaas 1-18, Muralitharan 0-2.

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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?"

Good day for England IMO. The selectors made the right decision in sticking with four front line bowlers, Harmison would have been a risk (fitness wise) with that strategy. Bowling Sri Lanka out for less than 200 at home is a big result, especially on an apparently flat pitch and being asked to bowl.

I agree with the comments on here about Hoggard, he just gets better and better. He has carried this attack since the West Indies in 2004, and has been over shadowed by the big names - but look at the wicket column and he is always in the mix.

We just need to bat for a another day and a half, and then put them under serious pressure in the second innings...