ENGLAND IN THE BOX SEAT
Hales and Bairstow step up to lead the fightback
ADAY of surprises at the start of what could be Durham’s last Test ended with the familiar tale of England reaching what should be a dominant position against Sri Lanka despite the wastefulness of their top order.
Nothing looked more certain on a cloudy day than Alastair Cook deciding to bowl after winning the toss in this second Investec Test and trying to finish Sri Lanka off after their ‘embarrassing’ display at Headingley. Instead he batted.
Then nothing looked more certain than Cook scoring the 20 runs he still needed to become the youngest man to reach 10,000 in Test cricket. Instead, after carefully moving to 15, he fell five short playing away from his body.
Nothing looked more certain than Sri Lanka struggling in the field in temperatures barely touching 14 degrees and looking like they would rather be anywhere other than Chesterle- Street. Instead, they took four stunning catches.
And nothing looked more certain than Joe Root reaching his 10th Test century when he moved effortlessly to 80. Instead, he was dismissed out of nowhere for his ninth score of 70-plus without reaching three figures in just over a year.
Unpredictability, of course, is what makes Test cricket such a special game and why it will be sorely missed in the North-East if the restructuring of the calendar in 2020 leads to fewer Test matches, which will be staged at more established venues.
Not that the Durham public came out in great numbers to demonstrate their support for the grand old game. The River- side was barely half full for what became an absorbing start to match that is expected to be another one-sided contest.
England ended it on top thanks to the bustling Jonny Bairstow. Moved up a place to six in the absence of Ben Stokes, he followed his Headingley hundred by again batting with purpose before falling late on for 48, something of a surprise, too.
Yet England will be concerned again at the frailties of their top order against a weakened Sri Lanka attack which could prove costly if they are repeated against more exacting opposition this summer.
Sri Lanka may have caught brilliantly, none more so than captain Angelo Mathews who took a blinder at slip to deny Alex Hales his first Test century. But questions have to be asked when an innocuous looking second left-arm spinner in Milinda Siriwardana was able to take the prime wickets of Hales and James Vince on the first day of a Test with conditions made for seam and swing.
And questions will certainly be asked about the Test future of Nick Compton after another failure, this time mistiming a pull and seeing Suranga Lakmal pull off an outstanding catch of his own on the squareleg boundary.
It is not hindsight to say that Compton’s retention for this series always looked like a mistake, particularly with one eye on the next Ashes in 18 months time, and England are treading water by keeping him at No3 for much longer.
But, to be fair, their decision to stick with Hales even though he struggled in his four Tests in South Africa is proving more than justified, with the Notts man looking more like a Test opener here than ever before.
‘I was disappointed to get out in the 80s again,’ said Hales. ‘I tried to hit it a bit too hard and lost my shape but you live and learn. It was only two games ago I was averaging 17 and there were question marks over my spot but I feel like I’m improving every day as a redball cricketer.’
It was unrealistic to expect Hales to come out all guns blazing, a la David Warner, in Test cricket but he is starting to produce the right mix of defence and attack and very much looked the part before falling in the 80s again. Hales had just smacked Siriwardana imperi-
ously straight for six and should have cut the next ball, a long hop, to the boundary. Instead he sliced it to first slip where Mathews dived and held on to the best of Sri Lanka’s highclass catches.
When Root somehow lobbed one that popped up at him to mid-off — signs of inconsistent bounce made Cook’s decision to bat more understandable — and Vince drove airily to a diving Lahiru Thirimanne in extra cover, England were 227 for five and Sri Lanka against all expectations were still in the game.
Enter Bairstow, who had a dream match on his home ground last week, scoring 140 and taking nine catches, and who now took the game to Sri Lanka by running hard between the wickets, keeping Moeen Ali on his toes in the process.
The Yorkshireman looked sure to kick on to another big score but, after surviving a close reviewed lbw call, completed the theme of the day by underedging a cut off Nuwan Pradeep with the close in sight.
Moeen, in need of a score after one 50 in his last 10 Tests, will live to fight another day in company with Chris Woakes, who has the task of stepping into the big shoes of Stokes here, with England looking well set on 310 for six.
‘We probably shaded it,’ added Hales. ‘But their catching was outstanding.
‘The first session tomorrow is going to be important. If we can get a couple of good partnerships, it should hopefully get us to around 450.’
Now it just remains to be seen if any surprises are in store when Sri Lanka bat after their woeful performance at Headingley.