It took 16 years and just six one-off matches from Sri Lanka's first ever Test match to their first series against England. By 2001 they had earned their right to be treated like any other leading ICC nation. They had been world champions (still more than England have achieved!, had racked up that phenomenal 952 against India and could call upon the services of world-class cricketers like Muttiah Muralitharan, Saneth Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas.
Having beaten England in both their previous meetings, home and away, Sri Lanka opened the First Test in Galle with another big first innings, thanks largely to an unbeaten 201 from Marvin Atapattu and 106 from Aravinda de Silva, then 35 years old and nearing the end of a magnificent career. Apart from Marcus Trescothick, England made a poor response and were forced to follow on. Hope flickered when Tres and Atherton put on a century opening partnership, but then Jayasuriya and Murali spun them out to register a resounding innings victory. Three in a row, and England must have been fearing the worst with Kandy and Colombo beckoning. The Second Test was a much closer affair, which Nasser Hussain's team edged by three wickets. The decider in the capital saw England take a first innings lead of a mere eight runs, with Graham Thorpe scoring a valiant 113 not out. There followed a Test rarity, a Sri Lankan batting debacle. Forget Murali; it was Ashley Giles who took 4-11, ably supported by Gough, Caddick and White, dismissing the home side for just 81. England triumphed but still lost six wickets in reaching the lowly target of 74. They had won the first series against Sri Lanka, who would seek revenge the following summer.
At Lord's both sides racked up more than 500, with Atapattu again filling his boots and most of the home batsmen getting some good practice, too, helped by the absence of Murali. A draw was inevitable. The Sri Lankan genius returned for Edgbaston but it was England's turn to win by an innings after Trescothick and Thorpe made tons. The Third Test in Manchester saw yet another 500+ score for England, and Sri Lanka were humbled by ten wickets and lost the series 2-0.
Early in 2004, the situation was almost reversed. Sri Lanka dominated all three Tests, although they won only the last. They would have been victorious at Galle had it not been for Ashley Giles' marathon 17 not out on the final day to deny the bowlers. In Kandy, it was Michael Vaughan who produced one of his grittiest performnces, grinding out 105 runs in eight hours to avoid defeat, despite Murali wheeling away for 56 overs and taking 4-64. However, England's luck deserted them in the Third Test. Samaweera and Mahela Jaywardene scored centuries as part of a match-winning total of 628-8 declared, and Vaughan's men capitulated, falling 215 short of making Tillakeratne's team bat again. Sri Lanka were once again on top.
The two sides met again in England in May 2006. The home team had experienced the Ashes highs and lows and needed to recover their vim and vigour against Sri Lanka, now led by Jayawardene. The Lord's opener was very similar to the drawn runfest four years previously but this time it was Sri Lanka who had to follow on after Pietersen and Trescothick took England towards 551-6. They easily claimed the low-scoring Second Test, with KP again in the runs and new boy Liam Plunkett taking six wickets. Then at Trent Bridge, there were a mere two runs separating the sides after the first innings. Monty Panesar bowled well in the second, but Sri Lanka improved and set England a target of 325. Enter Muralitharan. His efforts dragged England from a promising 84-0 to 132-7 and only the unlikely figure of Panesar showed any kind of fight. Murali finished with 8-70 and his team a 134-run victory to tie the series.
The last Test series between the two countries occurred just over three years ago. Sri Lanka again looked the stronger side on their home pitches. The first match saw Sri Lanka suffer a rare first innings deficit, but a Sangakkara hundred paved the way for a win by 88 runs. Stuart Broad made his debut at Colombo but made little impression with the ball as Vandort (138) and Mahela Jayawardene (195) cruised their way to one of their big totals. Vaughan and Cook were resilient and earned a draw. Broad was dropped for the final game and it was another case of Mahela the Magnificent, this time amassing 213 not out. Even Vaas struck 90 - which was nine runs more than the entire English side could muster in reply. Pathetic! With two full days to survive, only the rain could save them now - and that's exactly what happened. That and Alastair Cook's patient century.
So it's now nine years since England won a Test series against Sri Lanka but their prospects look considerably rosier in 2011. Not that their team looks exactly fantastic, despite being labelled the 'best team in the world' after their Ashes success. It's more because the visitors look remarkably ordinary following the Test retirements of Jayasuriya, Murali, Vaas and now Malinga. A 3-0 whitewash looks very much on the cards unless Sangakkara, Dilshan and England's recent nemesis Jayawardene combine to make more of those 500+ mountains for Strauss et al to climb. An interesting series lies ahead.
