SL A vs Eng A, Columbo, 7-10 March

[Andy Mellon]

I think there's a few oddities in the squad that was selected. Mainly Prior, Clarke, Powell, Shah and Cook.

I was surprised Prior was selected because Read and Foster should probably be ahead of him in the pecking order, although this may suggest that England are grooming him in case GO Jones can't regain form - it might suggest Read and Foster are falling further down the list.

Frankly, on recent form, I'd rather see Sir Kenneth Clarke turn out for England than Rikki Clarke. I know there's people who say he's got promise, but I think to stop him being the next Chris Schofield, he needs to put some work in for Surrey. Another failure on this tour could really do him some long term damage in terms of development. I would have liked to have seen Franks, Napier or Mascarenhas given a try. I don't know what either of these 3 did wrong this year not to have been selected ahead of Clarke, or even Mahmood.

Powell and Shah really do seem to be odd choices. Decent batsman, but I very much doubt that either will challenge for an full team spot. Surely some players in their mid 20s would have been a better bet - dare I say it - Hutton, Jefferson or Wagh who were all discussed as part of the W-A-T England A team selection process.

Now Cook on the other hand seems a decent prospect for one day having a full England career, however, he had a pretty dismal first-class season so I was very surprised that he got selected in front of people who performed considerably better.

Pete - I thought Scotty boy had fallen down the pecking order due to having a poor attitude and not being good enough at fielding if that sounds right? Apparently, the reason Jefferson wasn't selected was that he's considered to be a fairly poor fielder and the England set-up want people who can excel in 2 out of 3 disciplines (batting, bowling, fielding)

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Pete - I thought Scotty boy had fallen down the pecking order due to having a poor attitude and not being good enough at fielding if that sounds right? Apparently, the reason Jefferson wasn't selected was that he's considered to be a fairly poor fielder and the England set-up want people who can excel in 2 out of 3 disciplines (batting, bowling, fielding)

Hmm

They could work with Scott and Will on their fielding, at least they can bat.

[Andy Mellon]

Well, another decent day from the A-Team lads. Another fine innings from Matty Prior who could well overtake Read in the wicket keeping pecking order following some all-round good performances on this tour so far.

Bell was finally out just short of his 150, though Prior managed to score his 76 not out thanks to decent support from Alex Gidman and Sajid Mahmood at the end. England's final total was 424 all out. 5 wickets were taken by young Sri Lankan leg spinner C Bandara.

In the Sri Lanka A reply, some early wickets from Mahmood and Harrison reduced the Sri Lankans to 76-4. A recent wicket from Jon Lewis, dismissing Jayawardene Lbw for 24 leaves Sri Lanka on 123-5. The England bowlers are on the whole looking economical, though Harrison has gone for 5 an over so far. 18 overs remain to be bowled today, and England will probably be looking to force Sri Lanka to follow on in order to acheive victory within the 4 days alloted.

And Pete - I agree with you. Both Newman and Jefferson look to be very good batting prospects. I'm sure the England set up could deign to give them some fielding coaching in order to overcome what is currently perceived to be their deficiency

[Chuck Palumbo]

Good to see Mahmood take a few wickets. He lost form dramatically last season after his ODI debut. We need him to come good to challenge the likes of Harmison and S.Jones so that they don't get into a comfort zone- competition is good, just look at Australia.

A good county season and Mahmood could see himself going to India and Pakistan next winter...especially considering he bowled well for the academy in India last year, it seems like he knows how to bowl on subcontinent pitches.

[Andy Mellon]

Well, England A gave the Sri Lankan equivalent a sound beating - by 197 runs. 5 wickets for Graeme Swann in the second innings meaning that everyone bar Rikki Clarke made valuable contributions in this game for England.

Man of the match? Well, there's only two challengers in my mind - Ian Bell with 144 and 4 and then Matt Prior with an unbeaten 76* and 40* totalling 116 without loss for Matt Prior. Still, as I said, valuable contributions from Powell, Shah and Cook with half-centuries, Swann with 6 wickets, Harrison 3, Mahmood 5, Lewis 2 and Gidman with 4. Basically, a great team performance.

It's also good to note that this Sri Lankan side were quite strong, with full test internationals in Gunawardene and Jayawardene in action. Also, a win in Sri Lanka by an England side is always something worth praising - let's not forget how difficult it is for English players to cope with conditions in the Sub Continent when generally they won't have played there before.

[Teatime FatCat]

I think this is a great result, however I'd like to see a second genuine spinner playing in place of Clarke or Gidman if there was another 4 day game.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I think its a great result. Nice to know we have up and coming players chasing for places in the test team. Now, does this mean we're on the up or Sri Lanka are on the slide ?

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Well, another decent day from the A-Team lads. Another fine innings from Matty Prior who could well overtake Read in the wicket keeping pecking order following some all-round good performances on this tour so far.

Surely he'll have to learn how to keep first ? Or maybe not

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I take it he's not up to reads standard. Is he up to Jones's standard ?

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

I take it he's not up to reads standard. Is he up to Jones's standard ?

Don't you mean down to Jones' standard? Anyway, from what I understand, Prior's kept tidily on this A-Tour so far, which is why I mentioned that he might move up the pecking order. Decent batting (better than Read, probably as good as GO Jones based on current form) and decent keeping (better than GO Jones, worse than Read) makes him a better option than either at this time. Why did we have to be blessed/cursed with so many very good keeping options at the same time - Read, Jones, Foster, Prior, Wallace, Adshead - at least the first 5 should have many caps to their names if they were playing in a time period with less keeping competition.

Moving on from the 'keeping debate. What about the other prospects on show on this tour? Swann seems to have bowled decently, but his wickets appear to have all been in the bottom half of the batting card. Competition for Giles? Better than Batty? I'm not convinced.

Mahmood, Harrison and Lewis. All seem decent enough, but would they displace Harmison, Hoggard or Jones? Unlikely unless one of these last 3 deteriorates significantly.

Gidman and Clarke. Well, I think that these two will have slipped down the pecking order after Pietersen's recent heroics. As a replacement for Freddie, I'd prefer to keep Flintoff ta very much. Gidman should move ahead of Clarke after these performances though. Seems a decent all-rounder type.

And the batsmen? Powell and Shah I think are doing too little, too late for any hope of a full team call up. Bell is obviously next in line for England, and Cook has done better than I expected of him so far. Not a full team prospect at the moment, but a few more years of development may bring him up the list.

As Chuck's said though, this just shows that there is competition for places in the full England team. This can only be a good thing, and it seems to be more competitive than I have seen for many years.