England no Pushover

[12th Man]

Having watched the warm up games, I am getting a familiar sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. The England quicks are not to be sneezed at and Vaughn and Pieterson are looking really ominous.

If England can get their heads around the "conditions" and Kandy is the best place to start. Temperature in the mid to late twenties and relatively low humidity.....I think England can provide a few shocks.

[greg]

I hope you are right but i am not going to count any chickens.I think this will be a very tight series but England can win it if they play as a team.

I think the Sri Lankans have serious problems with their batting line up as Attapattu was brought back and has now retired and Jayasuriya is nowhere near as good as he was and is probably a wasted player which means Jayawardene and Sangakkara have even more pressure on them to perform.I think England will take early wickets and it could prove vital getting the special players in to face a newer ball.

[Seamer]

After seeing the Australians romp it in against S.L, you can only say that England should give the S.L team a similar hammering. England are the no2 team in the world, and should well and truly prove it this series.

[12th Man]

I wouldn't set too much store by the "rankings" but if Hoggard bowls the way he did at the second warm up and of course he get's wickets(playing surfaces) with just a little help, Sri Lankan batters will struggle.

[engssmoothcriminal]

If England were remotely prepared I'd be feeling quietly confident about this series but yet again we're horribly undercooked and I really fear for the batsmen who have yet to face any vaguely half decent bowling on this tour let alone Murali. Whereas whilst Sri Lanka may have been on the wrong end of a monumental pasting down under as warm ups for a series go you really can't beat a couple of tests against the best side in the world.

Plus the less said over the big battle for the final bowling berth between those metronomes Harmison and Anderson the better . Strangely I'm not reassured by Aggers' comments about Harmison bowling really well in the nets.

(Though on the brightside at least the Sri Lankan muppets...sorry selectors have done us a massive favour by going for walking wicket Mubarak over the in form Tharanga as Marvan's replacement)

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by engssmoothcriminal

Whereas whilst Sri Lanka may have been on the wrong end of a monumental pasting down under as warm ups for a series go you really can't beat a couple of tests against the best side in the world.

I reckon Aus have softened them up nicely for you (except Sangakarra) A few of those S.L players will be down on confidence and will be under pressure, if England get on top of them from the start, i reckon they might cave.

Of course there is the Murali factor, but the English bats are pretty good players of spin these days. They would want to win the toss and bat first though, that's for sure.

[engssmoothcriminal]

Originally Posted by Seamer

I reckon Aus have softened them up nicely for you (except Sangakarra) A few of those S.L players will be down on confidence and will be under pressure, if England get on top of them from the start, i reckon they might cave.

Of course there is the Murali factor, but the English bats are pretty good players of spin these days. They would want to win the toss and bat first though, that's for sure.

That's going to be the key. If we can get on top of Vaas and Fernando (or if he plays Bandara) early on in the piece it will take a hell of a lot of the pressure off the batsmen when they come to face Murali and both Jayasuria and the new look opening pair look fallible if the quicks are actually capable of landing it on the cut strip. Though I just fear we're so underdone that it'll take us a couple of days to get into the match by which time the games gone and the series with it.

(And just in case he attempts it before I next post if KP tries a reverse hit off Murali at any stage in the match he should be flogged, stripped of his MBE and not allowed back in the country)

[12th Man]

Spot on about the Muppets and batting first. It has been very dry in Kandy and the wicket will crumble by about the 3rd day.

The theory about not playing Tharanga is that the English "allowed " him to score during the warm ups because they knew they could get him in the test.

I love the "walking wicket" (haven't heard that before) and if you need any help with flogging pieterson let me know, I will be at the match !

[12th Man]

There where much more English supporters than Sri Lankans in the grounds and it was a real pleasure watching the match with such a knowledgable crowd.

A good over from a bowler was always ackowledged by a round of applause from the crowd in the area when the bowler returned to his fielding position. The bowler always doffed his cap in thanks. This is the way to "support" your team. I don't know about loud "trumpet bands" particularly at TEST matches !

Of course the weather broke last afternoon and although it is sunny this morning still a lot of cloud around and the ball will swing in the morning. However England still have the advantage and if they can get a 100+ lead they have a very good chance of winning.

Vaasy was a shadow of his former self and was overbowled. Basically the Captain (Mahela) seemed very unsure and at one stage Sanath Jayasuriya had to tell Mahela to put in an attacking fielder for Pieterson. I think the ongoing "Muppet" furore is doing alot of damage. "The Slinger" also seems to have a problem, his body language on the field was not good. His bowling also left much to be desired.

I am not sure if play will start early as the ground got a through soaking. It didn't rain hard but it rained steadily for at least 6 hours.