England Tour Of Sri-Lanka : 5 ODI, 1 T20I & 3 Test: Oct 10-Nov 27, 2018

[Mijurkat]

Game on! Srilanka playing really well. England will miss Morgan.

 

[Velocity]

What is going on? Sri Lanka, after struggling to get 250 comfortably in the series get close to 370 and England three down within the first three overs of the chase! Something you would never from the Lankans considering their limited overs form today. I can't even believing what I'm seeing .

 

[Velocity]

So Sri Lanka win yet another dead rubber match. It baffles me to see that the DLS par score at 26 overs was 351. How is that even possible? SL score 366 in 50 overs, and England have to score 351 in just 26 overs to win in DLS.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Hope I don't jinx this but Leach has started pretty well with the ball. Settling into a beautiful rhythm and getting good purchase. If everything goes well, he will be England's full-time spinner in the short and long-term future (although I do hope he gets dropped because Somerset badly need him).

 

[zimrahil]

Hope I don't jinx this but Leach has started pretty well with the ball. Settling into a beautiful rhythm and getting good purchase. If everything goes well, he will be England's full-time spinner in the short and long-term future (although I do hope he gets dropped because Somerset badly need him).

You didn’t jinx this, great day for England and looking set (weather permitting) to win first overseas test for 2 years !

 

[Velocity]

Surprised no one is talking about this. England played really well to win this game, not easy when you're going up against teams like India, SL, Pak etc. in their own backyard. SL was poor with the bat, but Foakes was excellent. Was under pressure by the scoreboard and what a debut innings it was from him. Looks highly likely Bairstow will come in his place, he will count himself unlikely even though he saw and took his chance.

Jennings might also count himself lucky too. He may have sealed his spot for the next two Test matches and even the next series. Was almost dropped after that underwhelming India series. To the bowlers, I'm interested to see what the England selectors will do. Will they pair up Leach-Moeen or Rashid-Moeen when it comes to playing in England or else where it might turn a bit?

SL have now lost the services of Herath. Their team begins to decline even more. Their batting was surprisingly poor considering there are some decent players in that Test team with a fair amount of experience.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

West Indies generally give the impression they're a team of talented players but badly coached but Sri Lanka haven't shown much talent in recent times. A lot of these players look out of place in international cricket bar maybe 3 or 4. Not sure if there's a talent deficit at school level (which Sri Lanka is famous for) or if players are struggling to make the jump. Whatever it is, Sri Lanka look downright pathetic unless they've doctored pitches (like they did when Australia last visited them).

 

[Aislabie]

If Ben Foakes is even considered to be dropped then there's something going fundamentally wrong. He walked into the side relatively unprepared (he'd just embarked on a six-month break from the game) and immediately looked like a man who'll play 80 Tests.

It does create a headache for the England selectors, but it's one they should be capable of dealing with. Let's look at the team as it stands.

1. Rory Burns (will get a full series to give him time)
2. Keaton Jennings (has just bought himself another 15 Tests)
3. A cry for help
4. Joe Root (the captain has decided to bat at four)
5. Ben Stokes (seems thoroughly unlikely he'll be left out)
6. Jos Buttler (vice captain and in-form batsman)
7. Ben Foakes (undroppable keeper-batsman)
8. Moeen Ali (pencilled in, depends on batting order)
9. Sam Curran (left-arm variety, three-dimentional cricketer)
10. Jack Leach (controlled spinner, bowls long spells)
11. Jimmy Anderson (still top-class, keep him until his arm falls off)

That glut of middle-order batsmen means there's a bowling deficiency. Moeen definitely plays, it's just a case of whether he bats at three or eight (yes, things are that silly). Of the two options, I would lean towards eight.

Then there needs to be a second new-ball bowler: the left-arm variety of Curran seems to be preferred currently. And a second spinner: I think Leach looked in control, where as Rashid looked one long-hop away from full-yippage.

So that leaves the number three slot. If Jonny Bairstow is going to slot straight back in with all his technical frailties forgiven, he has to bat three and not keep. If he's not prepared to do that then I think Joe Denly has to come in despite his best efforts to play himself out of the side. Or, and don't hate me for this, you charter a flight for Ian Bell.

The selectors talk of Foakes creating a "good headache" but the lack of a good number three under the age of 35 is more of a migraine.

* * *

In focussing their team on their traditional strengths, Sri Lanka have neglected their opponents' weaknesses.

Take Keaton Jennings for example. This summer, he was made to look village by high pace around his off stump. In the Test just gone he feasted on finger-spin. Meanwhile, Lahiru Kumara, purveyor of 145 kph thunderbolts, was axed from the squad for being late to bed, with a false equivalence between his actions and what took place in Danushka Gunalathika's hotel room. Sri Lanka need Kumara to take the new ball against such a fragile top three; he could also be greatly useful against the tail.

Meanwhile, the obsession with picking a mystery spinner meant that Akila Dananjaya was taken apart by a batting order that refused to let him settle. But mystery spin isn't the biggest weakness of this England side against spin: their biggest weakness is that they don't trust their defence. Therefore, you don't pick a spinner that will make them guess - you pick one that will make them defend. Notice how Dilruwan Perera was the pick of the bowlers in the last test?

My Sri Lankan XI to face England would likely be:
1. Dimuth Karunaratne
2. Kaushal Silva
3. Dhananjaya de Silva
4. Kusal Mendis
5. Angelo Mathews
6. Angelo Perera or Roshen Silva (in place of injured Chandimal)
7. Niroshan Dickwella (wkt)
8. Dilruwan Perera
9. Suranga Lakmal
10. Chanaka Komasaru (or similar spinner)
11. Lahiru Kumara

 

[zwarrior]

Yet again Sam Curran comes to the rescue party !

 

[ParkedTheBus]

Burns looked pretty solid it must be said, encouraging signs to have two openers play in a confident manner in alien conditions.

the lack of a good number three under the age of 35 is more of a migraine.

If only an English top order batsman had scored 1000+ runs in Division 1. Oh wait, there was one and he goes by the name Hildreth! (he just turned 34 but you get the idea)

 

[Morphed]

This curran has become a thorn in asian team's sucess. May as well become test player of year if he gets a few wickets.

Russel Arnold must be knowing now how painful it was for us.

 

[Dutch]

I am liking the vibe around the England team at the mo.....

 

[LiveLoveABD]

England fans thinking of dropping Bairstow have got to be crazy! If anyone was to ask me to pick an all venues England side and believe me they can because of the ridiculous number of all rounders then this would be the side

2 openers
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Ali
Woakes
Curran
Leach
Anderson

The XIth bloke for me would be Buttler/Broad/Rashid depending on form and the team's requirement.

If this group of players don't become the WI side of the 80's or the Aussies of the 00's then they will have underachieved like crazy!

 

[Velocity]

This is one hell of an English side. Their abundance of allrounders are what could achieve them better success overseas than the other teams. Every team has struggled in SL, apart from the subcontinent teams while took the series quite comfortably. Sri Lanka asked for a turner, still they lost. That's shows how strong this English side could be abroad.

 

[zimrahil]

England fans thinking of dropping Bairstow have got to be crazy! If anyone was to ask me to pick an all venues England side and believe me they can because of the ridiculous number of all rounders then this would be the side

2 openers
Root
Bairstow
Stokes
Ali
Woakes
Curran
Leach
Anderson

The XIth bloke for me would be Buttler/Broad/Rashid depending on form and the team's requirement.

If this group of players don't become the WI side of the 80's or the Aussies of the 00's then they will have underachieved like crazy!

They are the two greatest sides of all time