Sri Lanka vs England Series Ratings

So at the end of a drawn test series, these are my ratings for the players involved.

Sri Lanka.
Lahiru Thirimanne 3. He hasn't had much of a chance against a rampaging Jimmy Anderson, and made no real contribution of note.
Tillakaratne Dilshan 5. Again, Dilshan has had a poor series with the bat, but he gets an additional point for chipping in with all those overs, and even a few wickets.
Kumar Sangakkara 2. By his high standards, Sanga has had a really poor series, 35 runs in 4 outings shows a man pretty much out of touch.
Mahela Jayawardene 9.5. the Lankan captain has shown in the past a liking for the English, but this was taking it even above that. . He had an outstanding couple of test matches, scoring 2 pleasing hundreds and a fighting half-century in the 2nd test.
Thilan Samaraweera 6. Samaraweera got a few starts in the series, but unlike in South Africa, he failed to convert those into a big hundred.
Angelo Mathews 6. Mathews missed the first match and couldn't bowl in the 2nd, but he made fighting contributions in both innings of the 2nd match, putting great value on his wicket, even though that at times mend he had to control his natural style.
Prasanna Jayawardene 6. Prasanna made a significant contribution with the bat in the 2nd innings of the first match, but otherwise his batting wasn't of much help for Sri Lanka. Played a pretty poor shot to get out in the important 2nd innings of the 2nd test, when there was a match to be saved and a fighting Angelo Mathews at the other end. His keeping as usual has been pretty ok.
Suraj Randiv 4. Randiv couldn't make much of an impact in the series with the ball, and his usually capable lower hitting also didn't quite work this time.
Rangana Herath 9. Along with Jayawardene, Herath has been the player of the series for Sri Lanka, picking up 3 back to back 6fers. He won the first test with the ball for his team, and after coming under a typical KP fire, recovered to take 6 wickets.
Dhamika Prasad 5. Prasad bowled with heart, but couldn't really run through the batting. Produced an entertaining little knock opening the batting.
Suranga Lakmal 5, bowled alright for an underrated seamer.
Chanaka Velegedara 5, again did ok in the first match before getting injured.
Dinesh Chandimal 4. Chandimal is a bright young tallent
who's time will surely come. But he had a poor first match, playing too many shots in both innings and getting out after getting a start. Was dropped for Angelo Mathews in the 2nd game.
England.
Andrew Strauss 4. The England captain has had another poor series with the bat, with the 61 in the first innings of the 2nd test proving to be the only real contribution with the bat.
Alastair Cook 7. Cook had a bad first test, but made significant contributions in both innings of the 2nd match to set up Englnd's win.
Jonathan Trott 7. Played very well for his hundred in the first game, and added another half-century in the 2nd.
Kevin Pietersen 8. KP didn't have a great game in the first match, but it was his brilliant hundred that made all the difference between an England win and a possible draw. By taking the attack to the SL spinners 2nd time round, he settled the win as well.
Ian Bell 4 Made a 50 in the first match, but looked troubled otherwise throughout the series.
Mat Prior 4. Didn't have a great series with the bat, and missed a couple of chances as well.
Samit Patel 5. Patel hasn't done anything great in the series, but did alright with the ball, keeping the runs down and picking up a wicket or 2 in the process. Worth a couple more chances at least. May be England will have to bat him at 6 and give him greater responsibility.
Tim Bresnan 5 The best way for England to win test matches is to play Bresnan, the man hasn't lost a test so far. He bowled alright, kept things tight enough for others to attack around him.
Graeme Swann 9. Swann was splendid with the ball in the 2nd match, leading Englands charge in both innings. He bowled well in the 2nd innings of Lanka in the first match as well. As usual, played his shots, all be it not long enough.
James Anderson 9. Anderson has yet again shown that he has at last mastered all conditions, and has become a complete package as aa bowler. Gained consistent swing with the new ball, and found ways to trouble batters with the older one as well.
Steven Finn 5. Although he has been superbe in ODIs in recent times, Finn couldn't really replicate similar performances in terms of taking wickets in the comeback test. But he bowled well, like Bresnan, helping Swann by mainting pressure from the other end.
Stuart Broad 5. Missed the 2nd match with injury, bowled well in the first game.
Monty Panesar 5. Monty wasn't as successful as he was in the UAE, and Broad's injury and the need to bring Bresnan back mend he was dropped for the 2nd match. His fielding needs far more improvement!.

England

Strauss-4
Cook-7
Trott-8
KP-8
Bell-4
Prior-5
Patel-4
Swann-7
Broad-3
Anderson-6
Monty-6
Finn-5
Bresnan-5

sri lanka

Dilshan-5
Thirmanne-4
Sanagkarra-3
Jayawardene-10
Samaweera-5
Matthews-6
Prassana-6
Chandimal-6
Herath-9
Lakmal-3
Randiv-5
Welegedra-7
Prasad-4

cricket fan im surprised you have given the english batsmen such high scores!
One good innings imo doesn't constitute that high a score, the high scores should surely be given to the likes of swann, anderson and the goat :P monty!

cricketfan90 wrote:England

Strauss-4
Cook-7
Trott-8
KP-8
Bell-4
Prior-5
Patel-4
Swann-7
Broad-3
Anderson-6
Monty-6
Finn-5
Bresnan-5

sri lanka

Dilshan-5
Thirmanne-4
Sanagkarra-3
Jayawardene-10
Samaweera-5
Matthews-6
Prassana-6
Chandimal-6
Herath-9
Lakmal-3
Randiv-5
Welegedra-7
Prasad-4

I can't be bothered to write out full ratings myself right now. But for me Bell would have a 5, Swann an 8, Broad a 7, Anderson a 9 (where did you get 6 from - he was outstanding!) and Finn a 6. I agree with the rest of the England ratings.

For SL Samaraweera probably deserves a 6 or 7. Otherwise pretty much spot on.

England

Strauss - 6
Cook - 5
Trott - 8
KP - 7
Bell - 5
Prior - 7
Patel - 6
Finn - 5
Monty - 5
Broad - 4
Swann - 8
Anderson - 9
Bresnan - 7

Sri Lanka

Thirimanne - 3
Dilshan - 4
Sangakarra - 2
Jayawardene - 9.5
Samaraweera - 7
Mathews - 6
P Jayawardene - 6
Randiv - 5
Prasad - 3
Herath - 8
Lakmal - 4
Chandimal - 5
Weledgara - 5

duty surely you could give mahela 10..and herath easily deserved at least 9.

Duty Strauss 6 and Cook 5? Bell and Cook gets 5 despite Cook playing a big hand in winning the 2nd test and ensuring a drawn series? And what has Matt Prior done to get a 7?

msp83 wrote:Duty Strauss 6 and Cook 5? Bell and Cook gets 5 despite Cook playing a big hand in winning the 2nd test and ensuring a drawn series? And what has Matt Prior done to get a 7?

Prior kept well and contributed in Galle. 6 or 7 for me.

Cricketfan - To give Mahela a 10 would mean he was perfect and no one is ever perfect. Herath deserves 8 cause this is the subcontinent and there is help for the spinner.

MSP - Strauss 6, mainly for captaincy and leading us to 1-1. Maybe I was bit harsh on Cook, in retrospect he deserves a 7. Sorry Cook! Prior's main job, lest we forget, is to keep. Any runs he gets is a bonus and he kept very well this series (as always!).

I agree with most of Duty's rankings. Think Cook deserved a 7. 2 knocks of 90+. Patel at 6 is over-generous.

Cook's other 90+ score in the winter was against Pakistan though!. Nevertheless he made a pretty important contribution to England winning the 2nd test match.
Duty, I don't think Strauss leading England to a 1-1 draw against a Murali-less Lanka is good enough to give him a 6, particularly considering he didn't put enough runs on the bord as opener.
And on keeping, I think Prior, and not Chris Read or James Foster is England's wicket keeper mainly because Prior is the best wicket keeper -batsman in England at the moment by far. The keeping is his first job and he has to be very sharp at it, but I don't think a modern keeper's runs can any longer be considered a bonus, it has become a necessity that teams have keepers who can bet and significant contributions with the bat consistently. Prior, in his new and improved version, has in fact been doing this job pretty well, but this series he was below average with the bat, and to add, he did miss a rather easy stumping of Swann on the last day, just that it didn't prove to be an expensive miss.

Sri Lanka:

Dilshan - 3: couldn't buy a run all series, which was his main job. Fielded well and some useful wickets with his off-spin, but got more and more grumpy as the second test progressed.

Thirimanne - 2: taken apart by Anderson who got him in three of the four innings. Excellent at short-leg. Not sure he's a good enough batsman for this level.

Sangakkara - 1: may seem harsh, but did nothing all series really, Swann and Anderson had him on toast, and his fielding wasn't great either.

Jayawardene - 9.5: superb throughout. Two centuries and a fifty, including the match-winning knowk in the first test. Captaincy a bit unimaginative at times, hence why he doesn't score 10.

Samaraweera - 7.5: got starts in all four innings of the series, but never made it past 60 which was a small problem as SL's innings merely reached "passable" totals rather than "good".

Matthews - 8. Two very good, battling efforts, but in vain. SL's attack would look much more balanced if he could bowl though.

Chandimal - 4: rubbish shot to get out first innings, but did get a couple of starts. Good fielder.

Jayawardene - 5: crucial second innings fifty in the first, but failed twice in the second including a pretty ordinary shot to get out second time around. Keeping was OK rather than great, in his home conditions.

Randiv - 4: looked pretty unthreatening but did run through England's tail in the first test. Taken apart by Pietersen in the second, and seemed strangely reluctant to bowl with the hard ball when spinners were at their most dangerous. Fielded well.

Herath - 8: bowled very well in the first test to get 12 wickets, before struggling to work through England's batsmen in the second, though he did clean up the lower order. Batting brainless at most times, and a frankly awful fielder.

Prasad - 4: tried hard and looked briefly threatening in one spell, but not sure he's that great a bowler really. Looked a decent batsman, rubbish fielder.

Lakmal - 2: one good ball to get rid of Cook in the first innings, completely unthreatening otherwise. SL's seam bowling cupboard looks perilously bare.

Welegedera - 5: SL's best seamer. Caused some problems and claimed key wicket of Pietersen.

England:

Strauss - 5: got starts in three out of the four innings, but only made it past 50 once. An assured leader, who continues to get the best out of his bowlers.

Cook - 7: a poor first test, but a wonderful display of concentration in the second where the top 3 set up a beautiful platform. Key innings in the chase too, as he was more aggressive and made sure there would be no repeat of Dubai.

Trott - 8: for a time it looked like his innings would gain England an unlikely victory in the first test. Seems to have found his feet in the subcontinent at last.

Pietersen - 8.5: still a bit in awe of that innings in the second test. On a pitch where no one was scoring at a SR of better than 50 he scored 150 at nearly a run-a-ball as he destroyed the SL spinners. Incredible innings. Finished the test in style too, and fielded well.

Bell - 4: Nice fifty in the first innings, but struggled thereafter. Fieldng as assured as ever.

Prior - 5: His partnership in the first test with Trott had turned the tide before his somewhat freakish dismissal. Good behind the stumps, despite the odd blemish.

Patel - 3.5: did his job with the ball, but the jury's still out on whether his batting is really good enough for this level. Atrocious shot to get out in the second innings of the first test, and a poor fielder, certainly by England's standards.

Broad - 5: looked short of fitness but picked up Dilshan early twice and useful with the bat.

Bresnan - 5: kept England in control when the ball softened by bowling a tight line, and picked up a couple of useful wickets in the first innings.

Swann - 8: started the series under ludicrous questions of whether he was still England's frontline spinner. Answered in no uncertain terms as he picked up 16 wickets. Only Jayawardene and Smaraweera managed to play him with any confidence.

Anderson - 8: has surely answered any remaining questions about his ability on the subcontinent. Struck with the new ball (usually several times) to put England on top and allow them to play a more patient game when the ball softened. Very good at slip to Swann.

Finn - 6: Three wickets at 27 and a good economy rate marked his return to the test side. Looked threatening throughout, and should start against the West Indies next summer. Bad drop off Swann though.

Panesar - 2: a very disapointing test match for Monty. Bowled OK with good control, but SL played him well and he didn't get much out of the pitch. Batting ordinary and fielding atrocious.

2 for monty is ridiclously harsh IMO.

Pretty much agree with that MFC.

Panesar's mark was harsh. Had a good economy rate. The fielding was below poor. I think he was worthy of at least a 5.

well cricinfo gave him a 3, and TBH while he kept the runs down in the first innings he didn't look like getting a wicket, and didn't get much out of the pitch in the second innings either. His fielding was dire. I like him, but he had a poor test match. 5 for me would have been overly generous by far (5 is average, Monty was below that).

hmmm well obviously people are entitled to their opinon, but IMO that is harsh lol

Can't see how Patel can be scored higher than Panesar. Let's give Monty some love and make that 2 a 4.5

well to put it simply I thought Patel actually bowled better than Monty (certainly the stats support this). Also Patel didn't drop two easy catches. I could give Monty a 3 at a pinch (I was sort of starting at a 3 and dropping a point for fielding), but I'm not going any higher than that