NOT BAD FOR STARTERS!

Root proud of his tourists as they kick off packed year with seven-wicket victory

The sight of Dan Lawrence smiling his way through the most testing of examinations and guiding england over the Galle finishing line with Jonny Bairstow yesterday was perhaps the most encouraging sign from a first Test full of them.

Plenty of observers have long believed essex have produced something special in the confident and gifted Lawrence, but nobody could be sure until he was thrown into the cauldron of Test cricket.

The 23-year-old (right) came through that first test of his talent and temperament with flying colours and how satisfying it was that he should still be there at the end of a seven-wicket win, after he had arrived with england rocking at 14 for three chasing 74.

‘It was as if he had played 50 Tests already,’ said an impressed Stuart Broad afterwards.

Only when Lawrence survived a mighty close lbw shout from Dilruwan Perera when he was on nine — a Sri Lankan review would have brought his dismissal — did england have any semblance of concern when making the remaining 36 runs without loss yesterday.

Otherwise, that frenetic fourth evening — culminating in Joe Root’s calamitous run out — was forgotten and england could enjoy their fourth successive overseas Test victory and the ideal start to this most demanding of years.

There will be much harder tests to come in 2021, not least when england go straight to India after Friday’s second Test in Galle.

But, as Root said afterwards, they are a team on the up at the start of a year that will end with the holy grail of the Ashes.

Remember, they were without Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Ollie Pope, Rory Burns, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes here.

Only the failure of openers Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley and the inconsistency of their spin duo will have given Root any worries.

Significantly, Jack Leach and Dom Bess did get better as the first Test went on after displaying the rust that is only to be expected on a tour without any warm-up games and with Leach, in particular, so starved of meaningful match action.

‘If you look back a couple of years our record away from home was very poor,’ said Root.

‘So for us to have really turned that around is testament to a group of players who are improving all the time.

‘We are going in the right direction and we can’t ask any more from the players in that respect. I’m really proud and pleased with the way we’ve started here.’

The challenge for england now will be to improve back at this iconic ground on Friday. Sri Lanka will surely not be as bad again as in their first innings implosion to 135 all out which cost them this game after they had won an ever-important toss.

For one thing, england should not have been bowled out for 421 when their captain had made a monumental 228. Totals of 500-plus will be absolutely vital in India.

Leach and Bess know they must cut out the loose balls that dogged them before their fourth day improvement — even though england will be delighted the old Somerset friends shared 14 wickets in their first Test together.

england have said they are treating this winter as one tour of six Tests and, with India in mind, they must be prepared to change a winning side for the second Test against Sri Lanka which will almost certainly see an even more spin-friendly pitch.

There will be a temptation to bring back Moeen and replicate the three-spinner policy that served them so well in their 3-0 win in Sri Lanka in 2018.

But surely Friday will be too soon in sapping conditions for an all-rounder who is still recovering from Covid-19.

‘It’s important to take it day by day with Mo,’ said Root. ‘It would be wrong to completely rule him out but it’s so good to have him back around the dressing room. he’s such a great character and big part of our squads.’

It remains more likely england will look to rotate their seam bowlers. It might seem madness to even consider leaving out Stuart Broad again after he continued his magnificent form of the summer, albeit in very different conditions.

Yet even Broad himself said in his Mail on Sunday column this week that he expected to play no more than two or three of the six tests in such a demanding environment and there is a strong case to bring Jimmy Anderson back to replace him.

Mark Wood did his job as the bowler of extra pace in this test even though he went wicketless — the last ball of his 21 second-innings overs was recorded at 92 mph — but it would be a risk to play him in back to back tests in heat and humidity.

olly Stone is the obvious replacement for Wood in the absence of Archer and it would be good for england to have a look at a bowler of extreme pace who will need test experience if he is to be a contender to play in Brisbane in november.

equally, Chris Woakes could come into contention now he is out of isolation, particularly if england are concerned about a long tail that saw them lose their last six first innings wickets for 49 runs.

‘It’s nice we’ve got an extra day to make those sorts of decisions,’ said root after england’s win was wrapped up 35 minutes into day five. ‘We’ll assess things and make sure we’re comfortable with the side we take into the second test.’

After an exhausting test and with his media duties complete, root took the time to call the one england supporter in Galle — rob Lewis — who stayed in Sri Lanka after travelling to Colombo for the original pandemic-hit tour in March.

It was a classy gesture from an england captain who now stands just two wins behind his mentor Michael Vaughan.