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.

With Strauss seemingly fancying his luck at the moment, I can see him declaring on 450, if we're not all out by then, to give the bowlers more time to get at the Sri Lankan batting.

Ended up a good day for the home team. Well done Cook, Mogs and Prior.

(Shame about Murray but you can't beat Nadal on clay)

Football, tennis - probably just as well the Spaniards can't play cricket

'night all...

End of days play. England have the slight edge on Sri Lanka.

Hopefully tomorrows play will just be as exciting as todays.

Fantastic from both teams today. A great advert for cricket, England really put on the runs fast whilst Mogs, Prior and Broad were at the crease.

Swann to come in tomorrow aswell so more quick runs.

hopefully u no what he's like plays 1 or 2 shots and gets carried away and gets out

Good days play. Relieved to see we bounced back and are slightly ahead at stumps after tough 2 and a bit sessions.

Plenty of soft wafty shots and on the walk lbws but some of the batters fought well for their 50s.

Hope the pitch speeds up though for now it looks another great batting day on Saturday.

What a pity I missed most of it That's the trouble with living on the other side of the world.

A shame Cook didn't get to 100. A shame KP has a problem with anyone left-handed.

345 for 6 by close of play I reckoned at the end of the first session (bedtime). 342-6. Not bad!

cricketfan90 wrote:which is par on this pitch

and I have to day that's an excellent result when youve been put in by the other team.

A great days cricket all round.

eirebilly wrote:What a day of cricket. Enjoyed every minute of it.. Even trebs cam out of retirement

cheers Billy

Good day of test match cricket, with both teams having moments on top. I said at 22 - 3 that I thought we would still get over 400, and it is looking that way now.

The morning session will be vital in establishing a strong grip on the match for either side, with lanka looking to bowl us out for 360 - 370 and England looking to score over 450. Should be a good contest against a fairly newish new ball, and one things for sure with Prior, Broad and then swann it should be exciting cricket. Can't see those three playing defensively for very long.

Coming back to the KP situation:

Trott has a great run and then gets out cheaply. Is anyone calling for him to be dropped? Of course not. But the other way round: KP has a terrible run with one decent knock but nobody is saying, 'A flash in the pan, he's not worth his place' (Except me and a few others, it seems).

See what I mean?

eltham I see your point, but think what might have happened if the selectors had listened to those calling for Cook to be dropped less than two years ago, or indeed those doubtful of Trott during the SA series.

IMO he deserves until the end of the summer to see if this is a temporary slump, or a permanent situation.

Point taken. But against India? Hmm .... I think he HAS to produce the goods now. We can't take on India with a walking wicket.

KP is one of the hardest trainers in the team and is constantly in the nets so i just dont understand why he is having troubles in match situations. I honestly think that the bowlers have sussed him out and know how to get in his head.

Oh yeah, morning all

Morning Billy and everyone else:)

Hopefully England get some quick runs this morning and put the pressure on Sri Lankas batters later on in the day. Signs so far is that it's going to be a close test.

In a day when most teams would be happy with 290-300 runs in a days play, England are already well ahead of that mark. I would'nt be suprised if we saw some swashbuckling tactics today from England to get them above the 4oo mark. A good session will see England at 450.

Morning peeps.

Morning trebs and Morning Broad...A couple of nice boundaries

Still reckon 450 is what we should get batting first on this. Good chance we will, too. Which didn't look likely for much of yesterday.

Morning 606 ers !

55 run partnership in 10 overs, now thats good going.

Morning stellar

Morning everyone, Prior for a hundred?

Still hoping for 500+ and some pressure on the Sri Lankans.

Would be interested in people's impressions of Broad's batting today.

Oh, and good morning everyone.

MR: If the pitch is flattening the way they say it will, both Broad and Prior could be here for a while. And if they are, I reckon both will.

Broad is timing the ball well cowshot and looking very confident. They are scoring very rapidly these two which is really hurting the SL bowlers.

In a way I think 400 plus is good pressure on them.

They put us in hoping they could get amongst us and they did.. to then get past par takes away any advantage from having done so.

Brilliant stuff from Broad and Prior. Really taking the game away from Sri Lanka.

It's really positive.

They should be able to bat well on this but there will be some worries there I reckon after last weekend.

eirebilly: Certainly sounds like they're having fun! Broad riding his luck a bit.

trebell: Yeah, I sort of know. But to really say, "Put us in did you? Backfired didn't it?" we need 500, and we need it to face the Sri lankans with enough runs to make them feel they are under pressure - the horrible spectre of another innings defeat in the back of the mind.

Prior dropped! Morale sagging - hammer it home boys!

Broad 50 off 47 balls. Well stick me in the ground and call me a stump! That's going it some!

Morning eirebilly


We've got 400 defo and 450 + will put us in control

Crikey! England enjoying the devil's own luck at the moment...great fun!

Though not if you're a Sri Lankan fielder / fan.
Great (though lucky) 50 for Broady.

Prior 5 away from his ton! Amazing stuff!

Luck favoring brave Prior. hopes he takes full toll

This is really bad from Sri Lanka, they look totally devoid of confidence.

Great ton from Prior

Wow! Prior's 100 up.

Off 107 balls with 17 boundaries...incredible!

MR scotland: chuckle: 16 minutes since you posed the question and Prior gets his ton. Well done Matt!

England going at over 8 today morning. Lanka has a huge prolem. Prior is edging his way to a ton

Fantastic from Broad and Prior

doh and he's gone.

Awesome work though. Not so far off a 450 that would have been considered excellent.

I would say the Lankans have lost any control they had now. They must be gutted.

Fantastic partnership.

Broad gone!

He thinks about a review but decides against it. Great innings nonetheless.

If Swann can get 30-40 we'll be in a position to declare by lunch, or shortly after.

Broad's gone, Swanny time now. the man can really give it a sound thumping!!.

Well done Broady. Played well-ish. England clearly attacking to a plan this morning.

I think he could bat 6 for England if he decides to learn how to build an innings and be more circumspect with shot selection.

oh dear! So much for that idea. Sri Lanka's bowling and fielding has sharpened up after Broad's wicket.

Still reckon we've got a big enough total to come out with a 1st innings lead.

Cowshot wrote:eirebilly: Certainly sounds like they're having fun! Broad riding his luck a bit.

trebell: Yeah, I sort of know. But to really say, "Put us in did you? Backfired didn't it?" we need 500, and we need it to face the Sri lankans with enough runs to make them feel they are under pressure - the horrible spectre of another innings defeat in the back of the mind.

Prior dropped! Morale sagging - hammer it home boys!

True that we won't be making 500 now but it's still a good amount of runs on the board and i still feel putting us in backfired. at 21-3 they were all over us. Now they are facing a big total with a brittle line-up.

Swann's gone, all upon Prior to England to get pass 450. Rather than slogging everything, think he should trust Chris T and Finn to hang around.