England's Summer of Cricket 2024

First topic message reminder :

Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Pathum Nissanka, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Milan Rathnayake, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Lahiru Kumara

Sri Lanka have confirmed their team. Unsurprisingly, V Fernando has been dropped after a lacklustre first game. He has been replaced by Kumara, not Rajitha. Kusal Mendis has also been replaced at 3, with Nissanka coming in to replace him. It will be Nissanka's first test in two years. His FC average is 60, but his test average is fractionally below 40.

Expected to be a very good batting wicket, and the weather is excellent for the first four days, but Monday has some rain around if we get that far. Sri Lanka have never won a test at Lord's, but they've managed to draw the last five.

Root gone and England are now under serious pressure. Have to say it seems they still haven't shaken this bad habit of going over board in attacking when just a little period of discretion would serve their purpose admirably. If it were day four this would be a bit more understandable: not sure why they've taken this approach today.

May well get back on track yet ; but this is going to test Brook and Smith - with not that much proper batting to follow.

And now Brook is gone ! Guess we wanted a contest...certainly got one now .

Brook gone as well. Can't handle that left arm angle.

Sri Lanka now favourites.

And another.

England's attitude during this test has been a disgrace. Whether it's win or lose, I hope it serves as a sharp wake up call for McCullum/Stokes.

This has really been good bowling from Sri Lanka ...but one wonders if they'd be doing this if both openers hadn't thrown their wickets away either side of Pope playing on. Guess Duckett always plays aggressively; but today he seemed more so than ever...

And now Woakes is gone ! Sri Lanka must be favourites now...

Atkinson batting in his usual spot. Not sure what exactly was keeping him off the field earlier; but if he can't bowl later it will be a major concern for England.

What is it that WINVIZ knows that isn't immediately apparent ? England 70% ? Really ?

I do think that Sri Lanka have bowled a lot better to be fair. When England collapse now the talk is almost always about Bazball. It does feel like Sri Lanka deserve some credit for just bowling incomparably better than in the 1st innings of this game, where they were so poor. They've got the ball moving today and kept it moving even when the sun came out. They've put it in the necessary areas too. Fair play.

Lawrence's dismissal was an absurd shot in a strange innings. Granted.

Pope was trying to play a regulation run down to third man that the most orthodox players around use all the time, chopped it on.

Root wasn't being overly aggressive, just missed something between a yorker and a full toss.

Brook fell to some classic left-arm swing bowling, which does seem an issue for him that teams will keep trying to target now. Along with his compulsion for taking on the hook. He's so talented that I've no concerns he'll figure both out. There are issues there though. Mitch Starc will be fancying that matchup. As will Shaheen if he actually plays over the winter.

Which leaves Duckett. I genuinely think Duckett will score more runs batting as he has been than by reigning it in though. I also think he'll score more than the other opening options. Both the ones that came before like Jennings, Burns, Lees and Sibley. Or the ones who are pushing now - basically the current model of Jennings who has been good in the CC and for the Lions. I think Jennings has improved some weaknesses in his game but I think Duckett is a far better player. There will be ugly dismissals with Duckett playing that way, but he's been so much better than our diabolical opening options over the last few years.

A real game on to finish the summer though. A brilliant opportunity to for Jamie Smith to step up once again. Test centurion Gus Atkinson strolling to the crease. Stone has got CC runs this season and looks hugely improved with the bat after his injury layoff - Cummins did similar during his huge absences where he couldn't bowl so worked hard on his batting. Hull and Bashir really can't bat from what I've seen of both though. Can Smith marshal the tail to a lead of over 200? It's what he's been brought in for as Foakes was often a bit lost in these circumstances.

All that is true , KC - I agree Sri Lanka have bowled very well in this innings. But is isn't just today that points to England having gone into this game overconfident to a serious degree : the first innings collapse ; bowling that ropey spin last night...some sloppy catching. Does look as if their easy previous wins had them expecting the same to happen automatically here. I am very much in favour of their attacking mantra : but just not convinced the necessary intensity has been there these three days.

Will be interesting to see what they can now do to dig themselves back out of this hole...certainly not giving the game away just yet.

Atkinson at least didn't burn a review on his way off...

That 200 lead looking a fair way off now. Remarkable improvement in the Sri Lankan bowling this afternoon ! They have been relentless., and thoroughly deserve their success.

I see WINVIZ has come to its senses ...61% Sri Lanka now

Useful runs that over

Ball getting softer ? Smith rather got away with the first attempted drive , but really monstered the rest of the over. Need some more like that...

alfie wrote:Useful runs that over  

Ball getting softer ?  Smith rather got away with the first attempted drive , but really monstered the rest of the over. Need some more like that...

Don't say things like that, alfie. You'll awaken the napping ball change god.

Sorry , KC , I will be more careful...

This is excellent from Smith...fifty now - and at a vital time !

I do think the ball has stopped moving though. No one had been able to get it off the square since the lunch break until this counter attack.

But Fernando got that one to leave Stone just then so maybe Smith has just clicked into super hero mode ...

Superb knock from Smith, showing his worth in batting with the tail and exhibiting that he can do it much better than Foakes. But he does fall last ball before tea, another session ending with a wicket, and England are still in the mud.

Somehow, the final three have to scrape this as close to 250 as possible.

V Fernando has justified his recall, and Kumara has given his best version of himself today. They've bowled well, but England have played this test with a shocking attitude since yesterday.

Ah rats ! Smith Falls to the last ball of the session.... A terrific innings ; but will it prove enough ? Still only 202 ahead , rabbits to bat , and the pitch looks fine for batting...plus England appear to be a bowler down. Reckon this is very much in the balance

God, Jamie Smith is a huge batting talent. As well as the power and eye catching strokes, he's just so composed in the basics. His technique and especially his defence is rock solid. He generally plays the short ball very well indeed. His natural tempo is ideal for a lower middle order batter in Tests. He's capable of going up and down the gears. It's very exciting indeed.

187 lead with a KP esque flat bat down the ground for 4 from Smith. His hand eye is silly good.

Lead up to 190 as Stone gets an ideal 3 to start the next over. Runs and Smith back on strike. And 4 from Smith. Risky but in the gap. 44 runs from his last 15 balls. And another 4. 48 runs from 16 balls. Ridiculous. Putting England back into a competitive position. And another 4. 52 runs from his last 17 balls. Argh, out last ball before tea. A fantastic innings in the situation though. Lead up over 200. It's exactly the counter attacking potential to put bowlers on the back foot which Foakes lacked in these situations.

They'll be hoping that Stone, Hull and Bashir can add another 20 or 30. With the ball moving around a decent bit, that has pushed them up towards a defendable total though.

This should be a really engrossing end to the Test summer.

Smith has done very well so far and his ability to go through the gears is so important. In an ideal world he'd be batting at 7 but the Stokes situation hasn't and may not allow that. His keeping needs work but has been tidy enough for most of the summer.

Nine down, England drifting to defeat. The light beginning to close in.

SL might not want to take this wicket too quickly otherwise their chase could begin tonight!

219 for SL to chase.

They should get this, but the pressures of a chase will be interesting. Bowling conditions have been fairly better today.

219 to win then.

Atkinson won't be bowling Chandimal might be struggling to bat. No clear favourite really : but Sri Lanka have generally batted better second time around ; and the pitch remains good enough for stroke making. The pressure of a fourth innings chase is another factor though...

I thought it was supposed to rain all day ? Had expected an early night ; but if it stays clear , with 39 nominal overs still due - we could see a result tonight ! Glad I am retired and don't have to get up in the morning

Surprised to see Atkinson bowling. Magic treatment between innings ?

Unusual for England, in the McCullum era , to be in this situation- defending a relatively small total. They are usually batting second , of course : but when they have set a target it has been rather larger than 219. Tricky test for Pope as an inexperienced skipper. Bright start by Nissanka...

Pope needs to give up on referrals.

It's like an insight into what would have happened if Broad was ever made test captain.

Sri Lanka scoring rapidly without reporting to any wild shots. Bit of a contrast to England's openers in this game. Not seeing any outlandish movement yet...guess Sri Lanka got the Magic Ball out of the box today

Nice c&b Woakes...definitely needed that !

Ball looks to have just started moving so next half hour might be crucial.

Despite that wicket, Nissanka has done an excellent job at the top of the order, lots of early damage. Like Zakir for Bangladesh v Pakistan.

Not sure why we haven't seen Stone yet. He was England's best bowler in the first innings but for some reason they've gone to Hull ahead of him...the runs are coming much too easily.

Not quite "miracle needed" yet : but Sri Lanka are going like a winner at the moment...

Ah...Stone now. About time ...hope he can effect a change in the momentum

Nissanka had a quiet return to test cricket, but two half centuries in this match have proven his worth.

Looks like they're coming off. 87/1, just 132 more needed. Would require a hell of a collapse tomorrow.

Actually...Bashir's getting an over. Thought the rain would have curtailed things.

Fifty for Nissanka...looks to be bringing his team home smoothly.. Light closing in and reckon we are going off this time. But no : Bashir to bowl ...unless he takes a wicket I think this game is likely done...

So off we go. Just 125 needed tomorrow which really should be a walk in the park. Unless Sri Lanka have a meltdown it appears England will be made to pay for taking their opponents far too lightly in this game...

94/1 then as they go off.

England have just been dreadful this weekend. Five wins over limited opposition and their mindset has snapped back to that arrogant casualness that was present at the start of the last Ashes series. Their attitude in this game, since the Saturday, has been borderline disrespectful to Sri Lanka.

Something like the last 16 England wickets have fallen for 191 runs, in the space of 50 overs? A wicket lost nearly every three overs? It's embarrassing and SL are cruising to a deserved win.

Great teams want to be great all the time. They don't just half-arse it because the series is won. When Vaughan/Fletcher's England were putting the finishing touches to their perfect summer in 2004, they didn't rock up in the last test and go out for a giggle. They scored 470 and won the game by ten wickets. When Strauss/Flower's England were 3-0 up v India with one to play, they didn't treat the final game as a holiday. They racked up 591 and won by an innings.

alfie wrote:Didn't stay up for the England second innings but I see Dan Lawrence got a somewhat controversial drs against him ? When you are not in great form nothing goes your way , eh...

Have to give Pope marks for not using a night watchman , given his own batting struggles of late

Match looks a matter of time now so day three might be a bit of a borefest with cheap second innings runs for anyone who wants them and not much tension. Friday really not a good day for Sri Lanka ; and predictions from some on here they might win a Test are looking very long odds.

Atkinson's hundred the big news of the day. He really did play well , albeit against some uninspired bowling late in the innings. Not getting too carried away yet (Overton against NZ two years ago was probably harder earned , for example) but it does boost his overall credentials. The slightly awkward thing is that it looks as if he's finding the stress of the Test workload in his bowling as he is noticeably down on pace and in an ideal world might be due for a rotational rest for match three ... unlikely after a Test hundred ! Need him fit and rested for some flat decks in Pakistan...  

Never Say Never alfie
Was having  stroll in the forest nearby, with my dog until a Guardian tweet of Eng Imploding in attempt to put quick runs popped up.
Looked at CI to see 6 down and then 7 down , back home turned on the TV to see 8, 9 and 10 go down.
As Light stops play with Lanka at 94-1....and 125 needed with 9 wkts.....I believe they will put it across tomm.
The one time SL needed their top order to stand up, was now and they delivered  & unfortunately for Eng the openers went at cracking speed. To defend a total like this you've gotta get Opposition 50-3 and 100-5 ish

How did Eng get to this point from being 260-3 and 290-4 after SL had squandered a good toss, good new ball conditions & themselves fallen to 90-5 ?
2 big reasons I would say, keeping aside the various other secondary passages of play

1- Eng gave 100 easy runs with spin last night...had they called off at 115-5 there was good chance they would have bowled Lanka out for 170-180 this morning

2- And then the mindless version of Bazballing struck ( Lankans pitched the ball in better areas...they had 4 seamers is all secondary play)
Bowled out in 30 overs....and it could have been much worse but for that blitz for increasingly mercurial looking Smith.

A Close fought T1 and a win in T3 would not be bad returns for Lanka.. Nissanka at top and having 4 seamers has made the difference for Lanka.
Had first look at Hull & I think his action lacks rhythm. He is not gaining pace as he comes into bowl, looks like getting tired, bored on the way and stuttering a bit to the crease.
He has good physique and strong delivery stride...needs to cut down the run-up and gain speed / momentum as he approaches crease.

Point 1 for me, though I'd be a hypocrite to not say I understand why they did it. There were about 60 or 70 runs made against village bowling there. Bowled out in 34 overs is a bit of a joke, but shouldn't have mattered, the lead should have been about 125 at least. It's been very forgettable stuff all round, since the day one light debacle. A Test that no one will remember in 6 months

Don't want to take too much away from Sri Lanka because their spirit in coming back from that dreadful first day (when they really did look as if they were mentally shot) is highly commendable. But honestly it is hard to escape the thought that England have fallen prey to complacency over these two days. Kind of understandable - even I thought after stumps on Friday that the game was headed only one way ; but it is arguably the main flaw in their otherwise much improved record under Baz and Ben that they still tend to get a little careless when clearly on top : and at this level it doesn't take much for an opponent to seize the initiative and turn games around. My own mantra as a skipper has always been to never get too "up" or too "down" until a game is done ... I think England largely avoid the latter (may even yet pull off a miracle on Monday ; though probably wouldn't put money on it !) ; but too often slip up on the overconfidence side. As they surely did here. ( And I just might check and see what their record is in matches where Root fails twice as I suspect it won't be very good !)

I don't think a loss will worry them too much , to be honest. The series is won ; they've tried out some new faces with varying degrees of success ; and more or less survived without the charismatic Stokes at the helm and despite injuries to the likes of Crawley and Wood. Any hopes for the WTC are presumably scuppered but I doubt anyone cares much about that. It is a bit of a pity that these two series are being followed by a visit to a Pakistan in disarray and a NZ side in rebuild mode because it is likely we won't really know how much to make of some of the newer players until India arrive next summer but that is the reality of the current Test programme. They have shown in the past that they can temper all out aggression with some sensible batting (did so a week or so back) so hopefully this one will serve as a bit of a reminder not to get too far ahead of themselves.

In the meantime hope that they can bag couple early on resumption and set some nerves off in the Sri Lankan dressing room to get us an interesting finish. The one ball from Bashir that leapt out of the rough suggests there could just possibly be some fun to be had if they don't let the batsmen race away early as they did last night.

Had a quick look at my "Root double failures" over the last couple of years : haven't been many . But of nine I noted since 2021 only Sydney (salvaged a draw - just) and remarkably Multan and Leeds have provided wins ; all the rest led to defeat. He remains very much the vital cog in the England batting (hardly news !) so hope he has the appetite to keep going for a few more years yet.

I missed yesterday, but looking at the scores, my comments from the other day still seem to apply to the batting.

Albeit some would argue going from 250-3 to putting on about another 170-17 for the rest of the wickets is probably ideal prep for Aus, as that's how it usually goes for us out there!

Definitely, or you could cut and paste some of the comments from Lord's last year and they would be accurate!

Off we go then, England hunting a minor miracle on day four.

Outstanding catch from Bashir!

Oh that's a great catch by Bashir ! Atkinson will be happy to have one - don't think the ball was anything special- and it gives England the early break they needed. Good to see Atkinson bowling anyway : wasn't looking at all comfortable yesterday.

Need to get another one quickly though to raise the tension.

England bowling much better this morning...fields not so unwisely over attacking either. But I fear it has come too late after Sri Lanka got away last night to take a lot of the pressure out of the run chase.

Under 100 needed now so you'd think the need for further wickets is getting rather pressing. Wonder if Stone can work some magic ?

Despite that wicket, this does look to be done, as it did anyway at the start. I actually feel SL deserve the win here, for all of England's failings they have been excellent at targeting England's weaknesses in the last couple of days. They also haven't rolled over this series, so 2-1 will be about right

Hulk , Hull runs in with a Giant run up and delivers only at 79mph.
Even he doesn't know, nor I think he plans where he intends to put the ball.
His run up is not giving him acceleration or rhythm, and on the contrary taking energy out that should be imparted into the delivery.

Eng is missing an English conditions seamer when Woakes is not bowling in what appear like very English conditions.
Jimmy Anderson would have relished these conditions

Bowlers getting worked to leg for easy singles a bit too often for mine...need to start challenging the outside edge a bit more while there is movement available. Does have the feel of things getting more comfortable for the batsmen and it is going to take some serious mistakes from them to derail this chase. England don't look to have much conviction about them with only the one break on this first hour.

KP_fan is of course correct. If England had really been focused on winning this match rather than trying to unearth a "joker" they'd have gone for a bowler who has both some proper first class form and ability to suit these conditions. Maybe a Robinson ?

Bashir on now and this is really the last roll of the dice...

Hull's bowling speed isn't what I was expecting. He's mostly been a 80-82mph bowler, I was expecting 85mph+.

Has been a passive morning. Not surprised SL are winning a test. A Joe Root masterclass was the difference in the second test, and England's margin in the first was only five wickets.

alfie wrote:KP_fan is of course correct. If England had really been focused on winning this match rather than trying to unearth a "joker" they'd have gone for a bowler who has both some proper first class form and ability to suit these conditions.  Maybe a Robinson ?

Bashir on now and this is really the last roll of the dice...

They clearly want him in the system to try and polish him up into a Test player. In all honesty he's not even county standard at the moment. If he plays any of the limited overs games he'll be smashed everywhere.

I think the pick if a win was needed to keep Potts in. Lawrence would probably have been dropped as well, and no way would we have seen that awful spin bowling on Saturday!

Century for Nissanka, in one-day style. Should secure him MOTM and a decent run in the SL test side.

Looks as if this will be done shortly after lunch...not a lot of drama for anyone who paid 75 pounds for a ticket...

Well played Nissanka ....great hundred ...and no doubt PoTM to follow.

Bit disappointed in the England effort today : started OK but rather fizzled out ; far too much unthreatening bowling - and Bashir only tried for one (pretty ordinary) over. Doubt they had a way to win today anyway but a bit more imagination would have been welcome. All very end of term...

Looks like SL want this done before lunch!

Not much rest for England. T20s start on Wednesday, tests v Pakistan in just under a month.