Monday, 30 May 2016

England v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test: Day 3 - Finally Sri Lanka show that there is not much wrong with the pitch or the conditions


 

England v Sri Lanka

2nd Test: Day 3

Finally Sri Lanka show that there is not much wrong with the pitch or the conditions

 

May 29th  2016

 

No time to write today, but this was the day that cricket fans had been waiting for. Despite losing their last two 1st innings wickets within 4 overs in the morning and losing a wicket early after the follow-on was inevitably enforced, Sri Lanka have done England a favour by giving them a really hard work out and showing that there was nothing wrong with the pitch whatsoever. Whinging about greentops (on which England scored 500 batting first) can end.
Interesting items to come out of the day’s play include the suggestion that maybe Chris Woakes could retain his place when Ben Stokes is fit, with a very off-colour Steve Finn potentially making way. And Moeen Ali discovering that life is not as easy as he had been having it so far: series figures of 5-4-2-1 taking a massive dent as the Sri Lankans targeted him. With Somerset’s Jack Leach (a genuine batting ferret) and Simon Kerrigan at Lancashire showing some decent form, there are some options appearing. As both Leach and Kerrigan are Slow Left Arm, you could even make a case to play Moeen with one or other, giving England a genuinely balanced attack, while retaining three quality seamers.

 

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