Still no remedy for England’s travel sickness
IF ENGLAND are going to overcome the chronic travel sickness that has seen them without an away Test victory in two years, they are going to have to take some unpleasant medicine to achieve it.
The first day of their red-ball tour was a tough one for an England attack that was forced to toil on a typically unhelpful pitch.
No fewer than eight bowlers were used by Joe Root in effectively a 14-a-side two-day warm-up and just six wickets were taken as a strong Sri Lanka Board side hurried to a thumping 392 off almost 90 overs.
The scoreboard recorded nine wickets but three, in the form of Kaushal Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Ashan Priyanjan, retired out after reaching half- centuries as England struggled to extract seam, swing or turn.
At least it was a decent work- out as England weigh up options in their attempt to finally find a combination to take 20 wickets and win an overseas Test for the first time since their victory over Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2016.
Such is the state of flux in England’s bowling that only Jimmy Anderson, Moeen Ali and Root of the eight used yesterday are guaranteed places in Galle next week on a pitch that is expected to turn from the first day.
So Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad found themselves playing for places, with the intriguing ingredient of Joe Denly’s leg- spin adding to the first Test puzzle.
Ben Stokes, meanwhile, did not even bowl, with England insisting he was being rested for bigger battles ahead.
Denly, returning to international cricket after a nine-year absence, enhanced his chances with four wickets in the Twenty20 victory over Sri Lanka but the red-ball game is a different kettle of fish.
He could be used in Galle as a top- order batsman and third spinner but here he was expensive once the newly slimline figure of Angelo Mathews got after him.
Denly had already made a bad start, dropping Lahiru Thirimanne on 11 off Moeen and sending a wild throw to the boundary to add four overthrows to Root’s figures.
Then Mathews hit Denly for two sixes in three balls but Root persevered with him and was rewarded when he took a wicket with what turned out to be the day’s last ball. Of the rest, Moeen was just about the pick with two wickets, Anderson and Broad were economical but rarely threatening, Curran got a semblance of swing and Woakes and Rashid looked least effective.
And there was no definitive signal of England’s wicketkeeping intentions in the probable absence of Jonny Bairstow, with Jos Buttler, Ben Foakes and even Ollie Pope taking the gloves for one session each.
It was something of a surprise that Jack Leach, widely expected to play in Galle next Tuesday, was left out of England’s 14-man side along with Olly Stone but both will get their chance to impress in the second warm-up tomorrow.
‘They scored a bit more than we would have liked but for us it’s more achieving what we need to get out of this game,’ said Moeen.
‘The wickets will be a bit different in the Tests because this was a dead, slow pitch. I think there are a lot of places still to be decided for the first Test but I’d love three spinners to play. It would be great for us as a unit.’ CRAIG WHITE is stepping down as Hampshire head coach for personal reasons. The former England all-rounder has been on the coaching staff at the Ageas Bowl since 2012, holding positions as assistant coach and bowling specialist, before becoming head coach in 2016.