Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test Day 1: The Ingenious England Reverse Batting Order Strategy Catches Out Another Unwary Opponent

 

Sri Lanka v England

1^st Test Day 1: The Ingenious England Reverse Batting Order Strategy Catches Out Another Unwary Opponent

November 6^th 2018

First things first: England picked 3 front-line spinners; Ben Foakes took the gloves to avoid lengthening the tail; Moeen Ali did bat at #3, albeit briefly; Sam Curran has replaced Stuart Broad. And, wonder of wonders, at the ground where winning the Toss is the key to winning the match, Joe Root called correctly.

You hope that England made their choices for the right reasons: Moeen Ali bats at #3 for Worcestershire on the few occasions when he plays a game for them, but he has always seemed to do better for England as a brilliant, counter-attacking #7 or #8 than in the top 3. However, maybe he was picked as he was genuinely the best person to bat there, rather than as a sacrifice to avoid others having to bat there. Incidentally, there are those who think that, long-term, Keaton Jennings will do better at #3 than opening. Similarly, is Sam Curran playing because the selectors think that he will take wickets, not because he will score more runs than Stuart Broad?

That said, there was something inevitable about the way that England fell to 10-2 after just 16 balls with Rory Burns and Moeen Ali falling to consecutive balls. It was also inevitable that, after a fifty partnership between Root and Jennings, scored at such a rapid pace that had it continued past Lunch Sri Lanka would have been in real bother, both would fall when well set and that it would leave England in dire straits. 103-5, half an hour before Lunch, with four of the top five bowled, would have any traffic policeman licking his lips at the number of convictions that he could get for dangerous driving. The score was rattling along at well over 4-an-over, but a wicket was falling every six overs. You could hear Sir Geoffrey coming out with “there’s more brains in a pork pie” and “you daft …” as he watched the wickets fall.

At this point, Sri Lanka were odds-on to win and it looked as if the match might be over as a contest by Tea on the first day. Until recently, those who know and love England would point out that Sri Lanka were being lulled into a true sense of security. Let’s face it, England’s recent record in Asia is not as grim as it was in the ‘90s, but that is not actually something to boast about. However, recently, sides facing England have received a nasty surprise. No longer “six out, all out”, the cry has been “six out, now you are in deep trouble!” When Sri Lanka broke the sensible Buttler-Foakes partnership, they must have anticipated a quick end to the innings. Instead, the score has been almost doubled, the last 10 overs of the day produced 54 runs as England tore apart an increasingly ragged attack and, the final insult, was Jack Leach coming in at the fag-end of the day, swinging merrily and taking ten runs from the final over. If Leach locates the edge of the bat as readily when bowling as he has done it when batting, I will be well content. There is nothing as frustrating for a bowler as watching a tail-ender edge and snick his way to a score as the runs stack up.

While Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Jack Leach had fun at one end (Curran and Adil Rashid launched five huge sixes between them), at the other, Ben Foakes was a solid as Hadrian’s Wall. With one end sealed-up, the batsmen could have some fun with fewer risks at the other. It is a potent combination. If Foakes can get through to his century tomorrow, England should be close to 350 and in a healthy position. A last-minute call-up due to the failure of Joe Denly to convince the selectors that he could do the job of batting at #3 and acting as third spinner, Foakes has made an extraordinary impression in his debut innings. Not too many people will begrudge him those last 13 runs (Dinesh Chandimal may, understandably, be an exception here). Without Foakes, England would have been in the manure. They may be still if the last two wickets fall quickly in the morning and the bowlers forget their lines.

It all adds up to an interesting poser for the selectors after just one day of the series: with Jonny Bairstow and Stuart Broad likely to play in the 2^nd Test, who makes way for them? That though is an example of the pundits getting ahead of themselves: things may look very different after three days of play once both sets of batsmen and both sets of bowlers have been in action. The pitch should deteriorate quickly. Some balls were already turning a lot on Day 1. There is already plenty of rough for the spinners to aim at. However, even if England score 350, if the bowlers cannot take wickets and Sri Lanka reply with 500, the game could still be over on the 3^rd Day and not exactly with an England win.