England vs Sri Lanka 2nd test debate

First topic message reminder :

So the 2nd test is upon us,Will England make another tremendous win or will Sri Lanka fight back to win the 2nd test? All will be known in 5 days time.

The 12 man teams are as follow:

England
Andrew Strauss (C)
Alistair Cook
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Eoin Morgan
Matt Prior (W-K)
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Chris Tremlett
Steve Finn
Jade Dernbach

Sri Lanka (Can't find the 12 man squad anywhere)

Tillakaratne Dilshan (C)
Tharanga Paranavithana (Spell check!)
Lahiru Thirimanne
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene
Thilan Samaraweera
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jaywardene (W-K)
Thissara Perera
Suraj Randiv
Ajantha Mendis
Rangana Herath
Dilhara Fernanado
Chanka Welegedara
Suranga Lakmal
Farveez Maharoof

Once again like the 1st feel free to discuss the action

And updates of the match will be up on the thread.

These two are looking very steady. I hope that is not the kiss of death.

Bell is now effectively playing the number three role which reduces his options.

Que?

chuckle. Still in shock after the morning. Will remain thoroughly twitchy for quite some time yet. 300 minimum, probably.

I'm still just about hoping for a really big 1st innings total.

Where you not on 606 cowshot? trebell was famous for seeing only the negative things in English cricket

Sounded like a beaut from Cook. That's timing.

Not much on the cricket boards. Bad atmosphere.

OK, couple of nice shots there from the boys.

Lovely shot from Cook.

Both men on the verge of a half-century.

Well done the run machine.

Yet another 50 from Cook,well played.

Great 50 from Cook.

Lets just remeber that Cook would have been dropped before the Ashes if England had another option as an opener.

Sometimes a lack of candidates is a good thing when you have players with genuine class who are going through a rough spell.

Cook had a horrible run of bad luck as well if i remember correctly. KP is a great player but he is really fishing for shots. He is more than worth keeping in the team but some improvement is needed.

A couple of good overs there from Sri Lanka.

Vaughan pouring utter scorn on any idea of dropping KP on TMS.

Now Bell gets his 50, Bit lucky at times but still well deserved.

50 for Bell

Not to forget also the 100 partnership.

And well done Bell.

Still doesn't sound a dangerous attack, but needed a few steady nerves at 22-3.

KP will likely have the series to score big runs if he doesn't he'll be gone.

Both Cook and Bell really look in form. Great to see.

After the shock of seeing three quick wickets Cook is beginning to blossom, having a partner really helps.

Liam_Main wrote:KP will likely have the series to score big runs if he doesn't he'll be gone.

It's far more likely that he'll get until the end of the India series, considering there's only one more match in the Sri Lanka series. And anyway, last summer I seem to remember the majority of people on the old 606 calling for Cook to be dropped...

Bell gone for 52. 2nd wicket for Welegedara.

I spoke too soon.

Oh now . Lets hope Mogs can get a decent score

Cook really is Mr Reliable right now.

chrisyeah wrote:

Liam_Main wrote:KP will likely have the series to score big runs if he doesn't he'll be gone.

It's far more likely that he'll get until the end of the India series, considering there's only one more match in the Sri Lanka series. And anyway, last summer I seem to remember the majority of people on the old 606 calling for Cook to be dropped...

It's a vital series for England can they fully rely on KP to score runs?

Come on Mogs.

SL should go all pace at Morgan.

Bother.

My fault . I flicked over to the tennis for a minute

Sorry.

Big chance for Morgan to make a statement about his place.

alfie: I'm going shopping for something exciting like mince in an effort to improve the innings.

Mogs times the ball so well. He reminds me alot of Michael Bevan

Another big partnership hopefully.

Great shot from Mogs, already looking confident.

Sir Geoffrey is adamant the pitch is lovely for batting.

It certainly seems to be when Cook is facing

In truth the Sri Lankans bowled pretty well early on , but the first three batsmen all played a little carelessly to get out (didn't see Bell go)

Sensible batting should still see 300 for the day with a few wickets left to press on tomorrow. England bat pretty deep these days.

6 from Morgan,terrific shot!

SL are bowling at the same over rate that the old WI did. That is what caused the 90 over/day rule to be introduced.

MOGGGGGSSSSSS 6, what a hit.

Who was I kidding that could stay away.

Afternoon all.

We have a game here. Credit to SL bouncing back like this.

England need to dig in here.

Any idea what a decent score is first up here?

trebell, i knew you could'nt stay away whilst England were playing .

400+ will be a good score but England have their work cut out to get that from here.

Hi Billy

Yeah for sure. 250 looks more likely at the mo but early days. Someone just needs to dig in.

I was thinking we'd been taking batting tips from SL's second Innings for a while.

I would say that England would be happy with 300-350 considering their start.

Wow !

That was a brief "retirement" trebell



Welcome aboard ...

Cook striking the ball beautifully. 2 boundaries

He missed us alfie

Cook must have missed Fernando ...welcomes him back with a couple of boundaries...

And Morgan timing it nicely at the other end.

Tempting fate but I still reckon England will get 400

Mogs gets another boundary

eirebilly wrote:Cook had a horrible run of bad luck as well if i remember correctly. KP is a great player but he is really fishing for shots. He is more than worth keeping in the team but some improvement is needed.

More than that he had a serious technical issue that was being exploited. The majority of his scores from the West Indies 2009 tour to the start of the Ashes 2010/11 were below 30. When you consider that includes Windies home and away (on really flat wickets), Bangladesh home and away and Pakistan at home its not a great record.
It was more than bad luck in the home series last summer, hes never been as good in English conditions but looked flumped despite the century.

The point is all the best players go through bad spells. Heck there was some debate about Trotts place after the SA tour.

Can England rely on Pietersen to get runs against India? No, but then they cant garuantee that from any of their batsmen. As it is Strauss has a worse recent record and Morgan is a less proven player ( doing well so far though). With 6 batsmen and the best batting keeper in test cricket theres room for one guy to have a bad spell. Realisticaly one of them always is, and you can only pick on form afte rthe game.
Could England rely on Bopara or a debutant against India?

I really cant see them ditching him, but Gooch does need to have some serious words and find a way of getting in his head.