Rain saves England. Or at least ensured they took this Test into a fifth day. The tourists were 102 for one when a flurry of rain forced the players off just before lunch. This was followed by a mighty storm. So a day to bat, the last of the series with Alastair Cook and, especially, Ian Bell looking neatly controlled. But England's performance has gone down badly as embodied by our last three contributors yesterday, whose disaffection bordered on anger. There seems to be a general concern about Kolpak players in county cricket, Gus, and perhaps we can do more to help ourselves. Although I think we both have more sympathy we were both fairly unforgiving in our pieces in this morning's paper.
Bedraggled, bewildered, shortly to be beaten. When a huge afternoon storm hit Galle, England were 61 for six, in supposed pursuit of Sri Lanka's total of 499 for 8 declared. That represented something of a recovery from 33 for six. It was a limp, ill-disciplined effort by a side kept in the field for more than two days. To be confronted, as they were, by two bowlers, one of whom was swinging it hugely (Chaminda Vaas) and the other of whom was peppering them with extremely rapid, accurate short balls (Lasith Malinga) was not what they wanted. They weren't up to it and they looked frayed and shattered. Even Gus Fraser may assume that it will be hard for England to save it from here. Sri Lanka have been, pure and simple, the better side. And no harm in that.
Before he took the field Sri Lanka’s new cap in the Galle Test had a record all to himself. Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanka Welegedera has more names and initials than any player in the history of Test cricket, all 2,498 to have preceded him.
He will go down on the scorecard as UWMBCA Welegedera and is known to as Chanaka. Thus he displaces Chaminda Vaas, the veteran left-arm medium pace bowler, who is also playing in this match and has a mere five initials – he is WPUJC.
England are severely lacking in this department and left themselves shorter in this match by omitting Stuart Broad.
A long day for England with relief on the stroke of tea. All at once, they look tired and ready for home. Mistakes in the field may have cost them their opportunity to square the series. Four clear cut chances have gone begging, none quite in the dolly category but all eminently catchable if Tests are to be won. Matt Prior was twice guilty moving to his right - his weaker suit - as was Alastair Cook who could not cling on to a harder chance in the gully at the very start of the day - Tillekeratne Dilshan had not added to his overnight seven at the time -and not long before tea all but ignored an edge as it past him at second slip. The opportunity that Prior did take - smartly to his left off Dilshan's glove - was not given by the umpire.
The result was a wicketless day until just before tea. Mahela Jayawardene, attempting a scurried single to register his second hundred of the series, saw Dilshan narrowly (very narrowly) run out and then the other Jayawardene, Prasanna, edged behind to give Ravi Bopara his first Test wicket. Too little, too late, maybe. The feeling is, Gus, that Sri Lanka may be over the hill even if they are not far away.
Well, here we are at Galle for the first day of a Test which, for once, is perhaps more than a cricket match. First, apologies for the absence of F and B at the Test - communications in Galle have been a tad tricky. This game has been a long time a'coming. No cricket has been played here since the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 devastated the ground, a large part of the island and cost somewhere between 31000 and 40000 people their lives. There was an unequivocal determination on the part of all concerned to play this match although the revamped stadium is far from finished and the weather has conspired against it. Play eventually got underway at noon. England inserted Sri Lanka, probably because the pitch was an unknown quantity, and Gus Fraser may think they are alrteady regretting it.
With a spring in their steps and a song in their hearts the England team went off to do good works yesterday. It was heartening to see how willingly they took on their duties on what might have been a golfing or doss around the pool day. So, some might opine, they jolly well ought to as well-paid young role models (but spare us the sanctimony, please).
They have been hitting town in their droves and their first port of call has been the cricket ground. There the jaws of England supporters – 3,000 of them due - have dropped.
Galle Stadium, rebuilt after the horrific 2004 tsunami which claimed some 40,000 lives in Sri Lanka, and supposed to be a gleaming symbol of regeneration, looks as though it would be ready to stage a Test match sometime next December. Instead it must be ready – largely sans any spectator amenities whatever, including seats – by Tuesday.
A draw looming here and maybe all to play for in the final Test at Galle, beginning on Tuesday. England have done well enough on the final day in Colombo but nobody - yet - has gone on to make a century for them in the series. Their top three batsmen in the order all made fifties today - and doubtless we'll come again to the indubitably talented, increasingly enigmatic Ian Bell in a moment. And then there's the pitch. Those able to flog life from a dead horse may have found it to their liking, but is this type of slow surface really suitable for modern Test cricket? Gus may care to ponder briefly.
Cricket photographers are a rum lot, not least on England tours abroad where they must spend long hours under a hot sun waiting for the shot that might ring round the world. To while away their time between balls and overs a couple of them have dreamt up a new game: casting the Sri Lankan team as Star Wars figures.
Another day, more torment for England. All the tourists can do now is attempt to save this match and series - when Sri Lanka let them bat again, that is. England have been kept in the field throughout the first two sessions of the fourth day and although they removed Mahela Jayawardene for 195 - what a captain's innings - they ran into further trouble. The Sri Lanka ninth wicket partnership went beyond 70 as tea approached, its chief architect, Prasanna Jayawaredene having been dropped twice on four and nine. It will take an effort of will and skill probably beyond England but Gus Fraser may think they can somehow eke out the draw. But the better team are winning here.
Some days in Test cricket seem longer, harder and less thrilling than others. This is one such. The day has gone on and and on as has Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, 120 not out at tea. Sri Lanka, one up in the series, are playing risk free cricket on a pitch that contains no perils. They have not been especially pedestrian - 95 in the first session, 82 in the second - but it has rarely been compelling. One wicket fell by tea, Ryan Sidebottom striking with the second new ball. The tourists have stuck at it and an early word is deserved for Stephen Harmison, wicketless but always wholehearted, occasionally quick and thoroughly deserving of a wicket or too as I'm pretty sure a fellow member of the fast bowlers' union will concur.
A song was released yesterday marking Muttiah Muralitharan's world record of Test wickets. It is possible to imagine at least another two score commemorative trinkets and marketing opportunities yet, given the way the country has been gripped by the event. Signed, limited edition first day covers are probably already worth a few bob and nobody has started producing the mugs and plates yet.
Umpires are always in the game. It goes with the territory. Off the field an umpire might be as unassuming as an undertaker's suit but on it they have to be assertive, ready to make instantaneous, game-shifting decisions and stand by them.
Mistakes are bound to be made as Asaf Raud demonstrated in Kandy and Daryl Harper proved with unnerving certainty on the first day at Colombo. No matter: it is to crickets' credit that by and large the players tolerate and understand human error.
Another day, more fascination, and welcome to the Prior and Sidebottom Show. Together the unlikely pairing, one hirsute, one bereft of hair, have given England considerable cause for optimism in ths match. They shared a crucial ninth wicket stand of 74 - watchful, never passive - and then combined to remove the first two Sri Lankan wickets before tea on the second day. Upul Tharanmga went first, bringing a good diving catch by Prior, and then wonder of wonders, Kumad Sangakkara nicked one which moved late off the pitch. Grand, gritty stuff by the English, Gus?
Hardly has play begun in Colombo than thoughts are turning to Galle and the poignant moment when international cricket returns there. It is inevitable. Nearly three years have passed since the tsunami that killed 40,000 and devastated much of the southen resort and its cricket ground on the way.
Teams of labourers are working round the clock to ensure the new ground will be ready in time. It is said that it will be a close run thing. To coincide with the match several admirable tsunami related events are being run.
England won the toss here this morning on a clammy, but breezy day and batted. This went against Gus Fraser's overnight advice but it has worked so far. The openers shared 133 for the first wicket, the first three figure first wicket partnership in 15 Tests. Michael Vaughan looked beautiful - barely another word for it - until he was out for 87. England moved to tea only a wicket down. A grand beginning on another slow, old pitch, Gus?
It's the eve of the Second Test in Colombo - a must win for England, as they say in the tabloids, if they are also to claim the Test series. No official team changes as yet because the way of things in cricket is that the starting XI is kept a closely guarded secret until the official list is handed by the captain to the match referee half an hour before the scheduled start at the toss. But the hot news is that Stephen Harmison is likely to return to the England side in place of the injured Matthew Hoggard. Not only that but there are increasing whispers that the Stuart Broad may be preferred ahead of James Anderson for his Test debut. Angus, panic or a cunning plan? Do tell the view of a bowler's bowler.
England lost a compelling opening Test by 88 runs with barely half an hour left before the light ran out. Unfortunately, the tourists' wickets ran ourt first. Disappointing to lose as England's captain Michael Vaughan observed. But there were plenty of fine things on show in a gripping match as I'm sure Angus Fraser can be easily persuaded.
No cricket side in the world is more faithfully supported than England. Each and every tour is accompanied as it has been for 15 years or so by legion upon legion of travelling fans. It has been no different in Kandy where around 2,500 England fans saw their side beaten by 88 runs yesterday.
It was difficult to believe, as the two great Sri Lankans went to their various records, that they were performing on a ground where they played as schoolboys. The Asgiriya ground may have been the venue for 21 Test matches and six one-day internationals but it is, first and foremost, the playing field of Trinity College.
After the record breaking bowling, the record breaking batting. Kumar Sangakkara has batted wonderfully in Kandy to put Sri Lanka in firm control of the First Test. He has now scored four hundreds in his last six innings, seven in his last 14. He has become the 9th player to score hundreds against every other country (apart from their own of course). But enough of stats. It was a magisterial tour de force by a man making the most of being in the form of his life. Wouldn't you say Gus?
What, it may be asked as the years pass, have Mluleki Nkala, Martin van Jaarsveld and Paul Collingwood in common as Test cricketers? Put another way, did you hear the one about the Zimbabwean, the South African and the Englishman?
Well, it might be a slight exaggeration to say that it's all happening at Kandy but it is turning out to be some Test match, one entirely fitting for a world record. Muttiah Muralithan achieved that feat in the morning when he bowled Paul Collingwood to record his 709th dismissal in Tests. But England somehow fashioned a crucial lead of 93 before Sri Lanka fought back with a solid opening stand, unbroken on 89 at tea. Included in that were six successive fours in an over by Sanath Jayasuriya off James Anderson. Angus, have you managed to draw breath?
Just before the rain came down here in Kandy, Muttiah Muralitharan drew level with Shane Warne as the leading Test wicket-taker of all time. Both men are now on 708 but the surest thing in cricket is that Murali will make it 709, 710, 711 and that's by tomorrow. He was running rampantly through England when the downpour arrived. It's like being in England in the 2007 summer. Angus, England still don't look as though they've got much of a clue how to play him, do they?
Few things in cricket are as rewarding as listening to a Matthew Hoggard press conference. It is not as if he is especially incisive about the game (though he can be), it is not as though he always knocks 'em dead (though he can do), it is not that he is invariably a model of candour (though he often is). Nor is he free from cliche, racking up at close of play on the opening day at least five "Put it in the right areas," the most hackneyed bowling phrase de nos jours.
It was a bold selection decision for England to give Ravi Bopara his debut in the First Test. All the smart money seemed to suggest that Owais Shah deserved a chance to make the number six berth his own.
England are being made to feel utterly welcome. Sri Lanka is
predominantly Buddhist but the lobby and surrounding areas of the Mahawali Reach are filled with artificial Christmas trees (white leaves, red lights).
It feels like being in a suburban shopping centre.
And there are other trees on the agenda too. Two players from England and three from Sri Lanka
planted specimens of the real things outside the Asgiriya Stadium yesterday. It
was the launch of a campaign by the Rotary Club of Sri Lanka which aims to
plant 10 million trees in 10 years, splendid not least because the country is
not short of trees.
Another of the beauties of cricket is that both teams preparing to play the First Test in Kandy are staying in the same hotel. They are mingling at the Mahawali Reach (also temporary home of this reporter) in the same lobby and the same dining room. It could not and would not happen in any other big time professional sport.
It may be partly because Kandy does not have many smart hotels (though it is not entirely bereft either). But it is partly because the players have mutual respect and recognise they are playing a game. The practice is also usual in India, South Africa and Pakistan, though not in Australia.
The biggest story in town remains Muttiah Muralitharan. Until he takes Test wicket number 709 and thus overtakes Shane Warne's world record that will remain the case. To reach this, the boy from Kandy needs five more wickets. Or does he?
It's true that according to official records Murali has so far taken 704 Test wickets but the purists - and they are legion - insist his present tally should stand at 699. Not only purists indeed but those with a passing fancy of what Test cricket should and (should not) be about.
On a greatly more sombre note, the future of the Test series was
called into question yesterday because of two bomb blasts in Colombo,
which is 120km and a light year away from Kandy. The Sri
Lankan capital has become a city under siege because of the renewal
last year of the Tamil Tigers' bloody struggle for an independent state.
The perpetrator of the first explosion yesterday was an elderly
female suicide bomber targeting government offices. The second was
seemingly caused when a security guard inspected a suspect package.
Sixteen people died.
There is a state of high excitement in the hill country of Sri Lanka.
This was embodied - as is the case with events the world over - by the
taxi driver as he threaded his way through the meandering piles of
tuk-tuks in Katugastota on the very fringe of Kandy. "This is where Murali grew
up," he gesticulated wildly and proudly. "This is where he learned it
all."
Murali, of course, is Muttiah Muralitharan, the champion bowler of Sri Lanka who is about to break one of the most significant of all cricket records. He needs five more wickets to overtake the Australian Shane Warne's record of 708 Test wickets. Since Murali has averaged 6.12 wickets a match in his 115 Tests, 6.75 in Tests in Sri Lanka and 7.2 on his home town track at the Asgiriya Stadium he is the hot favourite to achieve the feat in the First Test against England starting on Saturday.
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