England vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test

Venue
Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Dates
27th - 31st May 2016

TV Coverage
Live: Sky Sports 2 from 10am Daily
Highlights: Channel 5 19:00 Daily (also Sky Sports on differing channels and at differing times)



Officials

Umpires - Aleem Dar and S Ravi
TV umpire - RJ Tucker
Match referee - AJ Pycroft
Reserve umpire - TBC



Weather
Friday 14C Cloudy
Saturday 15C Cloudy
Sunday 15C Cloudy
Sunday 14C Some Rain
Monday 13C Some Rain



Form

England - LWDWLW
Sri Lanka - LLWWLL



Teams:

England - 1) Alastair Cook (capt), 2) Alex Hales, 3) Nick Compton, 4) Joe Root, 5) James Vince, 6) Jonny Bairstow, 7) Moeen Ali, 8) Chris Woakes, 9) Stuart Broad, 10) Steven Finn, 11) James Anderson

Sri Lanka - 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Shaminda Eranga, 10 Nuwan Pradeep 11 Suranga Lakmal



Pending Milestones:

Alastair Cook needs 20 runs to become the 12th player - and first Englishman - to 10,000 in Tests.
Moeen Ali needs 51 runs to reach 1,000 in Tests.
Rangana Herath needs one wicket to become the third Sri Lankan to 300 in Tests.

Injury woes for Sri Lanka continue to mount. Seamer Chameera joins Pradeep on the injured list. Interestingly Sri Lanka repalce Pradeep with Kusal Perera, another keeper, who has just had his drugs ban overturned. Perera was the teams first choice keeper prior to the ban and brings the number of keepers in the tour party to 5. Sri Lankas coach, Graham Ford, was with Surrey last season - who also like to have a lot of keepers in their teams. Coincidence?

Surely it'll be Woakes for Stokes? Makes little sense to me for it to Ball for Stokes, if anything I'd go Ball for Finn and Woakes for Stokes

Rather play Ball, we know what we have in Woakes and it really isn't anything special at test level.

I'd go with Ball too, Woakes is just a really poor mans Ben Stokes, so poor in fact he offers nothing to the team.

I'd rather give Ball a go as well, but I'm firmly expecting that Woakes will be the one starting.

Sadly I agree on Woakes, a County giant but looks short of international class. Those outswingers are lovely and all that, but he is not really threatening at the top level

Should add that doesn't mean I think England have suddenly unearthed the next best thing in Ball but we will never know until he plays. You do get those players, like the badly missed Mark Wood, that take to it like they have always been there

Finn needs to nail down that number 3 spot because Wood will soon be back and Ball waiting in the wings.

Wonder if the sun will be out and lots of runs to be had. Last match Durham made 411 runs and I read that the Durham groundsman was making pitches more batsman friendly.

Woakes in for Stokes apparently. We do love our bits and pieces cricketers.

Confirmed by Cook in his press conference - and that Woakes will bat at 8. It can probably be argued that Woakes better suited to 4th seamer role than Ball, but if they were going to shuffle the batting order I would rather have seen what Ball had to offer.

GSC wrote:Woakes in for Stokes apparently. We do love our bits and pieces cricketers.

Mark Ealham was the best in bits and pieces cricket history!

Duty281 wrote:

GSC wrote:Woakes in for Stokes apparently. We do love our bits and pieces cricketers.

Mark Ealham was the best in bits and pieces cricket history!

Gavin Hamilton for me!

I think England really need to decide what Woakes is supposed to be. Is he the next best seamer on merit? Anderson's potential replacement (God help us if so)? Or someone we bring in because he can bat a bit and we don't want Broad higher than 9 anymore.

Ah poor Gav. Suffered the yips after that single test.

Weather forecast added to OP.

Woakes - in form, but we have seen what he can do as an opening bowler in SA, so worrying if he is the long term replacement for Jimmy. Maybe Ball has not impressed in nets? Otherwise I have to assume that They have selected him to keep the batting depth.

Considering the only area Sri Lanka had us in any trouble was the batting, does it not make sense to play Woakes? (Extra batting depth)

4th seamer obviously an important role, but I think in this England side that person needs to be a decent bat too (considering Anderson/Finn aren't particularly good with that bat, and Broad is at best slightly inconsistent)

I can certainly see the logic behind their thinking

I'd like to see Ball given a go in the final test at least - maybe in place of Finn if he underperformance again

Eng fans are a bit harsh....Stokes is a star player...better than Flintoff and onky a bit short of Botham...
and Woakes is an all-rounder with high potential....."Half a Kallis" I would say

Playing in Durham is even worse for a batsman than playing at Headingley. And it's colder.

Woakes and Finn will be properly motivated for this Test - favourable conditions and they need to showcase their ability. Compton, too, is probably on his last chance. Anderson and Broad are in tremendous form.

Sri Lanka aren't up for this.

I would never normally dabble at odds as tight as 1/4, but it is an absolute gift. Printing money in the most beautiful and extravagant form, in the greatest and most joyous game of them all.

The weather should hold. And I hope Cook holds his nerve, and bowls first if given the chance.

1/4! Should be 1/25!

Conditions grey, If England win the toss they may be tempted to keep the foot onm the throat and ask Sri Lanka to bat.
Equally they wont fancy standing around in the field in the cold.

Its going to be a test of character for Sri Lanaka here, could easily turn into a tour from hell for them.

England win toss and have decided to bowl. Cook states they expect conditions to stay the same, so wanted first use on the pitch before it deteriorates.

Mathews states they would have batted first too.

Have to wonder if there is any hope for Sri Lanka - they just weren't at the races last week.

Suppose one should remember that they had England 83/5 before Bairstow and Hales combined to post a decent first innings ; so England will do well not to treat their bowlers too lightly (it may be that the top order did so last time , in truth) but it is difficult to see their batsmen finding a way to combat the England seamers - especially if we are talking cloudy conditions.

Still England have occasionally been guilty of overconfidence (last West Indies tour !) so no doubt Bayliss will be making sure they keep their minds on the job. One or two players have a lot to play for individually - as Compton has acknowledged .

Plus side for the Lankans is that their bowlers shouldnt be too tired

Lakmal replaces the injured Chameera, while Siriwardana replaces shanaka in a bid to strengthen the batting.

Interesting picks. The sort of bowlers who England players tend to get out to even when they shouldnt.

Slightly stunned that England didn't bowl first.

350+ would be a pleasing score considering the overhead conditions.

Hmm ball is nibbling about and doing a bit - surprised England chose to bat too

Everyone seems to agree that the sun wont come out much anytime in the game, but the pitch will of course deteriorate. The argument to bowl first is usually to grab fleeting conditions before things down.
So long as England lay down another score around 300 they should still feel pretty comfortable of winning given the opposition.

Theres is a bit of swing but nothing outrageous to suggest that Sri Lanka wouldve simply folded without England even having to bowl well.

England look pretty comfortable so far, but I think I prefered the old Hales getting out for 20 glorious runs.

Few decent deliveries from Eranga. No big alarms but the batsmen are being careful. Looks like a good enough surface for batting so taking first knock probably the correct call

Can we start critisizing Englands top 3 for being to stodgy and dull and suggest getting a T20 specialist in to speed thinsg along a bit please?

Oh wait....

Bit harsh on Shanaka , by the way , after his bright start. Seems to have paid the price for his teammates' batting frailties - OK he didn't do it with the bat either ; but I thought that amazing first three overs alone might have earned him a second chance ?

I see no point in Hales being in the team playing like this.

Hales seems to be getting into his stride - looking to score in all areas ; I fancy he seems a lot more confident today after his good innings at Headingley.

Hope that comment doesn't doom him

Looks liek Hales read our stinging rebukes of his considered approach

Frustration for Cook. Worked so hard to get himself in.

England are obviously going to win this test by an innings, as that means Cook will reach 10,000 at Lord's.

Cook departs...

Good catch ; but the skipper will be disappointed with that dismissal - really was a nothing shot ; his good early season form doesn't seem to have carried over into the Tests.

Compton the man under the most pressure now...

Duty281 wrote:Frustration for Cook. Worked so hard to get himself in.

England are obviously going to win this test by an innings, as that means Cook will reach 10,000 at Lord's.

If he keeps poking at balls like that he's no guarantee to get it then ! Uncharacteristic lapse - maybe milestone pressure ?

Cook has had a funny time with the bat since the start of The Ashes. His best performances have tended to be when the rest of the batting decided to have a match off, and he hasn't contributed much when England have won. Obviously he had a huge innings in the UAE that was agonisingly unrewarded!

I find it unusual as he's one of our Top 2 batsmen and you would naturally expect big innings from him to feature in a lot of wins. If he can click alongside the middle order, some poor bowling team is in for a very long day or two

You wouldn't say Compton looks exactly comfortable - survived an lbw against Herath but if the umpire had been in a less forgiving mood...

The over rate is pretty good ; but apart from that and a brief flurry from Hales there hasn't been much to get excited over so far. Pradeep is bowling a good line.

VTR wrote:Cook has had a funny time with the bat since the start of The Ashes. His best performances have tended to be when the rest of the batting decided to have a match off, and he hasn't contributed much when England have won. Obviously he had a huge innings in the UAE that was agonisingly unrewarded!

I find it unusual as he's one of our Top 2 batsmen and you would naturally expect big innings from him to feature in a lot of wins. If he can click alongside the middle order, some poor bowling team is in for a very long day or two

I guess he has faced a couple of pretty handy pace attacks in Australia and SA ; so perhaps a few outs aren't unexpected. But yes , I'd have thought he'd have gone on more often from these 15-20 scores. Will be interesting to see how he goes as the summer progresses.

Compton fails again

Not good news for Compton. Rather undistinguished innings ends with a mis-hit pull - about his first attempt at aggression.

Running out of chances.

Well thats Vinces debut sorted then.

Have to say Sri Lankan bowlers have stuck their task well this morning - and have had the better of the session so far.

Nice to see Joe Root start with a trademark boundary

alfie wrote:

VTR wrote:Cook has had a funny time with the bat since the start of The Ashes. His best performances have tended to be when the rest of the batting decided to have a match off, and he hasn't contributed much when England have won. Obviously he had a huge innings in the UAE that was agonisingly unrewarded!

I find it unusual as he's one of our Top 2 batsmen and you would naturally expect big innings from him to feature in a lot of wins. If he can click alongside the middle order, some poor bowling team is in for a very long day or two

I guess he has faced a couple of pretty handy pace attacks in Australia and SA ; so perhaps a few outs aren't unexpected.  But yes , I'd have thought he'd have gone on more often from these 15-20 scores. Will be interesting to see how he goes as the summer progresses.

Cooks had wobbles in form through his career, and his home record has generally been pretty average. His runs have tended come overseas.
I guess this dip in form has gone less noticed because of the ongoing issues with the top 3 overall, he doesnt exactly stand out as the problem.

On the plus side Hales looks to be on the road to establishing himself as a batsman whio can tough through as well as scoring the big when conditions are in his favour.

I'm not saying Cook is out of form, he's getting some decent scores but only when everyone else fails, which suggests when its tough he is our best player.

My point is nothing more than the odd coincidence of him not making good scores when we win. e.g. he made decent scores in The Ashes at Lords and The Oval but no-one else bothered to turn up!

Decent session for England, though that may have been Compton's last chance.

Really impressive maturity, once again, from Alex Hales which has solidified England's platform.

83/2 off 31 (!!!) overs... Honours about even. Hales and Pradeep the standouts

Re the excellent over rate : presumably the Sri Lankans have been moving rapidly to keep warm !

VTR wrote:I'm not saying Cook is out of form, he's getting some decent scores but only when everyone else fails, which suggests when its tough he is our best player.

My point is nothing more than the odd coincidence of him not making good scores when we win. e.g. he made decent scores in The Ashes at Lords and The Oval but no-one else bothered to turn up!

Hes averged 28 in the period since the 260 in Pakisatn. Id call that out of form for a guy who was near 50 over his career.

Maybe its England winning games thats the issue.

Seems a bit harsh to measure the average from the game after a 260!

It was only an observation anyway, and something that surprised me. I actually see it as a positive - despite the perceived poor batting England are still finding a way to win without one of the guys that would usually set them up

Cook chased a wide one, looking like a man desperate to lay bat on ball.

Compton played just as poor a shot. I get the feeling that his slow scoring rate gets to him and he goes and plays a daft hook shot like that. Not sure selectors will make an unforced change to the batting during this series - but without a buig score soon Compton will not face Pakistan.