This English team is serious about winning. Make no mistake about it. They came to Sri Lanka, ‘The Sauna’ island, more than two weeks ahead of having to play their first test at Galle, which begins on Monday.
And they trained hard, even as the mercury hit the 40 degree C mark on each unforgiving day. In between the rigorous sessions, they played two three-day matches against quality, up-coming Sri Lankan teams. They won both. The first match, against the Board President’s XI, was a facile victory, though off-spinner Grame Swann dismissed the contention that it was so. The team had worked hard and it showed, he contended.
The second match was against Development XI. The first innings of the three-day match saw Dev XI put up a huge score (431 for 6 decl.). England declared behind on Day 2 (272 for 4). On Day 3, England, which was set a target of 359, chased down the target in 60.4 overs losing 6 wickets.
The ‘whitewash’ against Pakistan is too hard to forget for this English team. During a conversation at the Taj Samudra gym, Strauss said that the huge lead time to prepare in Sri Lanka was justified. “The conditions are very different,” he said. When asked if the conditions in the United Arab Emirates were similar, he said this was not the case. In the UAE, the weather was better.
Even as England was straining every nerve under the harsh March sun in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan team was playing one day matches -- First in Australia, and then, in Bangladesh. Asked how playing one-dayers could be a preparation for a test match, captain Mahela Jayawardene said that players had to switch from one form of cricket to another. This was not something new; it has been on for the past few years. The team had six Test specialists, forming some sort of nucleus, while the remaining played all forms of the game.
Sri Lanka had lost the last match played at this venue to Australia, though Mahela made a century. The pitch too came in for ICC censure. Asked if Sri Lanka had refrained from asking the curator for a spin-friendly pitch like last time, Mahela said that he had just come into the country. In any case, he did not influence pitch preparations. After having had a look at the pitch, he said that the curator had come up with a good pitch. The pitch will have runs for the first few days and will start aiding spin towards Day 4 and 5.
Injury worries
Sri Lanka was forced to replace injured Angelo Mathews with Chamara Silva. England has said that it will be able to use Ravi Bopara only as a batsman, again because of injury. Stuart Broad survived an injury scare and is available for selection.
The teams:
England (from): Andrew Strauss (Captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Peiterson, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Steve Davies, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Monty Panesar, Tim Bresnen, Graeme Swann, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel and James Tredwell.
Sri Lanka (from): Mahela Jayawardene (Captain), T.M.Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ranganna Herath, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara, Tharanga Paranavitana, Dhammika Prasad, Chamara Silva and Suranga Lakmal.
Field Umpires: Asad Rauf and Rod Tucker
Third Umpire: Bruce Oxenford
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath
Match starts at 10 am IST
