England break their Sri Lankan hoodoo

Let’s be honest. If earlier this year Bayliss and co could have handpicked an overseas tour to end the long Test series draught, Sri Lanka would probably have been top of the list. For all the positive vibes around the one-day outfit, England have struggled in foreign climes, with no Test series successes for three years, six in Asia seventeen in Sri Lanka itself.

The opposition in 2001 featured a ‘who’s who?’ of island legends, from Aravinda de Silva, Jayasuriya and Muralitharan to Chaminda Vaas and the 23 year-old batsmen Jayawardene and Sangakkara. By 2012, only the latter pair remained, and it was captain Mahela’s first innings 180, supported by Rangana Herath’s twelve wickets which ensured the home team triumphed in fortress Galle and with it the two-match rubber. Fast forward another six and a half years and Sri Lanka have a rather threadbare look to the side. Angelo Mathews is always a good bet for a few steady half-centuries but even the veteran Herath decided to retire before the Kandy match leaving the attack shorn of stars.

Much has been said about Joe Root’s promise to bring pace and purpose to England’s Test cricket, an aggressive strategy .allied to the proven success in fifty-overs. I can see the point. We don’t know how to grind out a day and a half against spin so let’s just move our feet and whack a few boundaries, play to our strengths. At Galle that seemed to becoming unstuck from the start, and it was more traditional batting by debutant Ben Foakes and Sam Curran which rescued the first innings, and another centurion Keaton Jennings in the second.

This week, the scoring has been a touch quicker but the England stars have not been Ben Stokes or Jos Buttler, although the latter did contribute. Instead it has been Joe Root’s rapid 124, Rory Burns’ consistency at the top and Surrey colleague Foakes who did the damage in the middle.

But let’s face facts. The real England success story has been the spinners. So far, only four of eighty wickets have fallen to the seamers. At Kandy, it was entirely down to Moeen Ali, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid – with a little help from Root’s occasional twirlers and a run-out. Incredibly, this match was the first in Test history when 38 wickets were claimed by spinners.

I don’t suppose Colombo will witness anything different but at last England have the series in the bag, taking two consecutive victories abroad for the first time in yonks. Moeen has been poor with the bat.  It’s a shame if his bowling has affected his batting because this was once a thing of beauty, but for a once part-time slow bowler to become England’s third most successful off-break exponent of all time is no small achievement. 

For now let’s just savour England’s new-found fame as spin kings. Jimmy who?! Of course it’ll all change back in Blighty but at last the overseas hoodoo has been exorcised, Joe Root reached three figures and this tight touring unit looks quite formidable.

Herath Hits the Heights!

That Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in the latest Test series can be no surprise to anyone. Neither was the fact that their stand-in skipper Rangana Herath took plenty of wickets. However, after so many years in the shadow of Muttiah Muralitharan, his reaching 350 wickets with another ten-wicket haul has perhaps crept up on us with silent speed.

Only five men have than 350 Test wickets in fewer games, and only one spinner (Murali) has done so. Herath has become the first captain since Kapil Dev in 1985 to capture eight victims in an innings, and his 13-152 was the best ever bowling performance in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, no bowler still in the game has more five-fors (28) to his name. The impressive stats go on.

Perhaps the one which struck me most was that he became only the third man, after Dale Steyn and the inevitable Murali, to snaffle a five-wicket haul against all other Test playing countries. That’s quite a milestone in this day and age. And yet in my mind something prevents him from taking his place in the pantheon of all-time greats.

The thing is, for all his eye-catching exploits during 2016, including his leading role in that 3-0 demolition of Australia, he has done very little outside Sri Lanka. On home territory he has taken 231 wickets at 23 in 41 Tests, which is pretty darned good. But away, the record is a meagre 96 at 38 in 24. In the neutral UAE, it’s a similar story: 24 at 36 in six matches.

It’s not just a matter of Asia; good; rest of the world: bad. Not only in England and New Zealand, but also Bangladesh and India is Herath’s Test average worse than 45. At 38 years old, he may not have many opportunities to improve on these stats. Nevertheless, he seems to be in prime form right now and, particularly in Angelo Mathews’ enforced absence, is increasingly important to his country’s fortunes.

Yet what impresses me most about his career facts and figures is not what he has done on the international stage. These days, top bowlers focus primarily on Tests, ODIs and so on. Therefore it is highly unusual for anyone to take 700 first-class wickets in the twenty-first century. Herath is just 20 short of 1,000. And that is with relatively few years in county cricket, where the likes of Murali, Walsh, Marshall, Kumble and Warne supplemented their Test hauls to top the thousand mark.

The Sri Lankan’s first-class record probably owes much to the paucity of his limited-overs appearances. As a superb left-armer, his T20 economy rate is barely six; world-class, you’d think. Maybe his fielding and batting have held him back from Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20 sides. However, in past years he has had the chance to extend his domestic first-class experience.

Whatever else Herath does for his country, I will certainly cheer his joining the 1000 club. That’s genuinely one for the modern record books.

2014 Cricket Review: Tests

In 2014, Test cricket has been a roller coaster ride. England went from Ashes meltdown to redemption of sorts at home to India, the only top Test nation not to win a single series all year. Australia also defeated India and South Africa but, even without Smith and Kallis, the latter remained number one in the ICC rankings. New Zealand have won a record five Tests but now need to prove their new-found winning formula against the top three. All credit, though to the Aussies for coming through the grieving period after Phil Hughes' tragic death.

So who were the individual stars of 2014? In all first-class cricket, Chris Rogers was the only batsman to aggregate more than 2,000 runs and the world's top wicket-takers were Bangladeshi spinner Taijul Islam (89) and ever-reliable Michael Hogan (88). However, at the highest level, my pick of the openers were David Warner and young West Indian Kraigg Brathwaite. The abrasive Aussie smashed six centuries and 1,136 runs while Brathwaite's average in five matches is an excellent 77.88.

The middle-order is typically competitive. Brendon McCullum, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson enjoyed great years but for consistency, my next batsmen are Kumar Sangakkara and Younus Khan. The Sri Lankan out scored all other Test players with 1,493 runs at more than 71. The Pakistan veteran finished with a similar average and produced a purple patch this autumn, grabbing more than 700 runs in four matches against Australia and New Zealand in the UAE.

Next up are Joe Root and Angelo Mathews. In a topsy-turvy year for England, the Yorkshireman demonstrated his value many times and the batting line-up will surely be built around him for many years to come. His average for 2014 was a stupendous 97. With the Sri Lanka big three looking shaky, Mathews has stepped up to the mark, not only as captain but also as someone who can deliver big scores, not just useful 50 not outs. Only team-mate Sanga scored more Test runs and Angelo's average of 87.80 is mighty impressive. He also gets the captaincy.

MS Dhoni retires from Tests with loads of plaudits but Pakistan's Sarfraz Ahmed edges him and Brad Haddin to the wicketkeeper berth. A better batsman than Akmal, he is also improving his glovework.

My team boasts four specialist bowlers alongside part-timers Mathews and Root. Rangana Herath's tally of 60 wickets was easily the most in 2014, claiming no fewer than six five-fors. Apart from his problems with the arm inspectors, Saeed Ajmal took only 17 at 44 apiece, so three pacemen complete my XI. Dale Steyn continued to take wickets (39) and with a sub-20 average. James Anderson boasted one more scalp, averaging an impressive 22 but star 'quick' has to be Mitch Johnson. His year ended in a bout of daft 'verbals' with Kohli but it began with such pace, bounce and venom that England didn't just suffer an Ashes whitewash but also lost two of their three finest players of recent times, Swann, Pietersen and Trott.

So, to sum up, here is my Test Eleven for 2014:-
Warner (Aust), Brathwaite (WI), Younis Khan (Pak), Sangakkara (SL), Root (Eng), Mathews (SL, *), Sarfraz Ahmed (Pak,+), Johnson (Aust), Steyn (SA), Anderson (Eng), Herath (SL).

ODIS and T20s to follow....

Team of the Week: Hail, Herath and Monty the spin kings!

It was a really well-balanced week in terms of eye-catching performances. Big scores at the top, consistent runs in the middle-order, double-wicket hauls from experienced spinners and excellent all-rounders.

I don't normally do this but I have included three opening batsmen in my Team of the Week, although one is there as an all-rounder who just happens to be a captain and new-ball number one. England's under-19 team beat their South African counterparts 4-0 in one-dayers this week, and Will Rhodes and partner Haseeb Hameed were central to each victory. The former plays for Yorkshire 2nds, the latter for Lancashire 2nds but the Roses differences were put aside for the internationals. Captain Rhodes weighed in with 168 runs and 11 wickets while Bolton-born 17 year-old Hameed delivered a sequence which reads: 97, 97, 125, 32. Maybe in five years' time, he'll be gunning for the Bell, Bopara or Root slot in the senior team.

Before heading for The Oval, I'll divert to the southern hemisphere and select Phil Hughes. The second unofficial 'A' Test at Townsville was ruined by rain, but the maddeningly inconsistent Aussie struck a superb unbeaten 243, to go with another double in one of the earlier one-day fixtures.

The aforementioned Joe Root also makes my team for the latest of his big scores for England. 149 not out was the simple statistic but it seems that once he is set, nobody can get him out, especially an Indian attack seemingly desperate to go home or play the limited over format. Few players average more than 100 in a five-Test series but the young Yorkshireman managed that landmark. Another handy biff-bash merchant, Luke Wright enjoyed a good week personally, if not for his Sussex side. His 113 and 52 in the Championship defeat to Yorkshire were followed by 127 in 115 balls against Glamorgan, also in a losing cause. If Jacques Rudolph had produced runs in the four-day match, his county record-breaking 169 not out in that game would have given me even more of a selection headache, and Kane Williamson (189 for Yorkshire) also just misses out.

My final specialist batsman is Steven Davies. No longer keeping wicket for Surrey, he plundered 174 and 38 against Leicestershire in the Championship and a run-a-ball 50 in the Royal London Cup win against Somerset. With the gloves, Northants' Adam Rossington is narrowly nudged aside by Pakistan's Sarfraz Ahmed. He made his fourth successive Test 50, including 103 in the latest loss to Sri Lanka.

David Willey, Jim Allenby and Adil Rashid all caught the eye as all-rounders but one of the season's stars, Tom Smith, forces his way into my squad this week. His wicket-taking consistency was maintained in both first-class and List A contests, alongside a 47-ball 54 in the Cup plus 44 and a match-winning 35 not out in the nerve-shredding climax versus Durham.

For once, Anderson and Broad let the supporting cast take the spotlight at The Oval, and Chris Jordan lapped it up with 3-32 and 4-18 as India's batsmen capitulated miserably.

Finally to those slow bowlers. Monty Panesar has produced the goods for England before now but in a rare outing for Essex in these days of misbehaviour the former beard that's feared claimed eleven wickets in the Championship triumph over Glamorgan. Rangana Herath is vying with Saeed Ajmal for player of the summer, and he added another fourteen to his Test career tally in the second win against Pakistan. The retiring Mahela Jayawardene may have been given the greater ovation but the spinner, just one year younger than his outgoing colleague, took his wicket tally in the last three five-dayers to a Murali-like 32, and 23 in the two-match series. More records abound!

In conclusion: Rhodes (Eng u-19, *), Hameed (Eng U-19), Hughes (Aus A), Wright (Sus), Root (Eng), Davies (Sur), Sarfraz Ahmed (Pak +), Smith (Lan), Jordan (Eng), Herath (SL), Panesar (Ess).

Team of the Week: Steyn and Sangakkara steam ahead

Some difficult choices this week after a relatively weak pool from which to select last time. Test matches, 'A' internationals, the CPL and the last of an intensive few weeks of Royal London county fixtures were all vying for attention.

For some reason, 111 was a popular score. The late umpire David Shepherd would have been hopping around like a demented flamingo but only one of these batsmen make my team of the week ending 15th August 2014. That's Essex opener Tom Westley, who shared a double-century partnership with Ryan Ten Doeschate in a run chase against Yorkshire, before weighing in with 74 versus Hampshire. Jacques Rudolph, Lendl Simmons and Wes Durston were all in the frame, but Alex Hales' 141 in Nottinghamshire's thumping of Middlesex earns him the other opener spot.

He put on 217 with Michael Lumb yet his colleague and skipper James Taylor produced an even better 100 not out in 55 balls in that match to accompany another unbeaten hundred for the Lions against Sri Lanka 'A'. Worcestershire's 20 year-old Tom Fell delivered three innings each of at least 70 in the past week, although his side struggled a bit. He edges my decision ahead of Pakistan's Younis Khan but I simply can't ignore Kumar Sangakkara. His prolific year continued with 221 in Sri Lanka's victory over Pakistan. Majestic! However, his score was eclipsed by the South African 'A' man Rilee Roussouw, whose 231 helped deflate an Aussie attack in the triangular tournament.

Messrs Dhoni, Buttler and De Kock all made some runs but Hampshire's Adam Wheater steals the wicketkeeper gloves with a 97-ball 135. A shame that it was in vain as his side's run chase fell five runs short of the Essex total.

Paul Collingwood and Notts transfer target Will Gidman each produced a notable all-rund county performance but my remaining four places all go to specialist bowlers. Yasir Arafat claimed 5-36 and 4-49 against Somerset and Kent, respectively, and who can forget Stuart Broad's India-shattering 6-25 in the Fourth Test? A pity his nose took a shattering soon afterwards....

Rangana Herath didn't need to bowl as many overs this week as last but he added another nine wickets to his tally for Sri Lanka. His first-class aggregate now stands at 870, which surely few if any current players can match. His Test average has also dropped below 30, a sign of a top-class bowler. Finally, that man Dale Steyn was at it again, taking 5-46 and 3-38, although his latest eight victims were Zimbabweans. Herath's record is improving but he has a long way to go before emulating the South Afican maestro's 383 Test wickets at 22.56.

Summing up: Hales (Lions/Not), Westley (Ess), Sangakkara (SL), Fell (Wor), Taylor (Lions/Not *), Rossouw (SA 'A'), Wheater (Ham +), Yasir Arafat (Sus), Broad (Eng), Steyn (SA), Herath (SL).

Team of the Week: Cook and Bell back in business

One-dayers ruled this week, and so did the batsmen. The sun shone (mostly) in Britain and the runs flowed accordingly. For once, the Caribbean didn't get much of a look-in, but I'll start with an A team one-day series Down Under. In recent years, Phil Hughes has been in and out more than the world hokey-cokey championship where CA has been concerned. However, he had a great week for the 'A's, starting with an unbeaten 202 (yes, that's not a typo) against South Africa A, followed by two further half-centuries. His aggregate far outweighed the 165 accrued by Alastair Cook, but the embattled England skipper also makes my Eleven for showing the character in adversity to not only score much-needed runs but also to lead his side to their first Test victory in almost a year. And to blunt the knives of the media and tongues of ex-captains who should know better!

The big centuries scored in that Third Test against India by Gary Ballance and Ian Bell also propel those two into my team of the week. The Zimbabwean has been in good form all summer but when Bell is firing on all cylinders, England normally do well. Last year, Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen enjoyed his best season for the county bt so far in 2014 runs have been harder to come by. Normally better suited to first-class cricket, Madsen surprised me by striking not one but two hundreds this week in the new 50-over One-Day Cup.

There were numerous other excellent middle-order innings in this trophy. Karl Brown, Glen Maxwell and James Hildreth particularly impressed but I've gone with consistency over one-off brilliance. Ex-England leader Paul Collingwood produced a 92-ball 113 against Somerset and 77 versus Warwickshire, also contributing a few wickets to Durham's cause. The century shold have been enough to win the game but Somerset were to compete in three thrilling contests. They came from behind to win that one, then tie the fixture at Nottingham and lose by just two runs in an incredible finish at Taunton after Kent compiled 383!

Lewis Gregory has been a godsend for Somerset when he's been fit this summer, and he scored 105 not out in 71 deliveries against Durham. However, he took a pasting in the Kent match, in which young Sam Billings thumped 135 off just 58 balls. The wicketkeeper also notched 64 in 54 earlier in the week, so he beats England debutant Jos Buttler to the gloves.

Gregory is also eclipsed by Steven Mullaney for the all-rounder of the week position. The Notts man has been batting low in the order in recent weeks but it hasn't prevented him making vital quick runs. IN total, 103 came in 66 balls, alongside 6-59 with his medium pacers. A greatly under-rated member of the Nottinghamshire squad.

James Anderson has to be there, too. Unlike the previous game, he deserved to be the Man of the Match at the Aegeas Bowl, claiming 5-53 and 2-24 to thwart a lacklustre India. His acquittal on disrepute charges in the Jadeja 'handbags' incident polished off a great week for him. Now Ian Botham's longstanding England Test wicket record is there for the taking.

My line-up is completed by two spinners. Jeetan Patel has done wonders for Warwickshire in the Championship and this week he was Mr Consistent in the Royal London tournament, with figures of 4-24, 2-36 and 2-43, adding a few runs, too. He didn't have to bowl as much as Rangana Herath, though. Having already sent down 45 overs in the first innings and now with South Africa under the cosh, he opened the bowling in the second innings with Perera and flogged a dead pitch for another 45. Two in three were maidens, and he finished with stats of 45-30-40-5. It wasn't enough to win as Amla and co defended splendidly to defy SL, draw the match and win the series. Sometimes a backs-to the-wall performance can deliver a dramatic cricket match just as much as a runfest.

My team: Cook (Eng *), Hughes (Aus A), Ballance (Eng), Madsen (Der), Bell (Eng), Collingwood (Dur), Billings (Ken +), Mullaney (Not), Patel (War), Anderson (Eng), Herath (SL)

Spin Veterans win the day

Twenty20 cricket is supposed to be a game for young whippersnappers who can whack the ball, hare around the outfield and deliver toe-breaking yorkers. However, today it was the turn of thirtysomething slow bowlers, whose wily variations of pace and flight spun their respective nations into the World Cup semi-finals.

Top of the pile was Rangana Herath, whose 5-3 in 21 balls looks more like a typing error than genuine statistics in a format where conceding under 25 runs is considered a mark of distinction. And yet this was his first opportunity in the competition, granted only after three nightmares for Mendis. Today, having been bowled out by New Zealand for 119, Sri Lanka looked likely to struggle but, Kane Williamson apart, the Black Caps were bamboozled for 60 all out. Off-spinner Sahithra Senanayake's figures of 2-3 in three overs would be sensational in any other match, but his left-arm partner Herath, recently turned 36, was the star of the show.

Unusually for a slowie, too, none of his five victims fell to a catch in the deep. Instead, all wickets were either stumped, caught behind or at slip, LBW or bowled. That's testament to the man from Kurunegala's skill at luring batsmen to their fate or spotting their early movement and changing length, flight or line to thwart attacking intent. For someone of advanced years in sporting terms and a form of cricket where slow bowling has become essential, Herath has surprisingly played only 40 T20 matches, just seven for his country. Maybe he is seen as too orthodox for the biff-bang game, but today's result demonstrates that experience and a bowling-friendly pitch can combine to magnificent effect.

Herath has now more than 1000 wickets to his name, the bulk of them in first-class cricket. 217 Test victims at 30 apiece ain't bad either, but perhaps today's performance could extend his career in one-dayers as has happened with Saeed Ajmal. In the Group 2 decider against the West Indies, the Pakistani suffered a rare bashing, conceding 41 runs against Bravo and Sammy. However, when his side batted, the Trinidadian duo of Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree were dominant. Like Herath, Badree recently celebrated his birthday, his 33rd, but his late blossoming as a T20 bowler was once again evident. He has taken a wicket in each of his last ten T20 appearances, and today's 3-10 was up there with the 4-15 he produced against Bangladesh last week. In the second over, he induced a rash stroke by Kamran Akmal straight to extra cover, followed by the stumpings of Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik. Santokie, Russell and Narine did the rest. Of course, as ever, a batsmen (Dwayne Bravo) was awarded the Man of the Match, and now the Windies must be considered short odds to retain the trophy.

Next up, Badree and Herath will be competing face to face. Perhaps it will be the turn of the veteran Sri Lanka batsmen to win the day, but I reckon the carefree Caribbeans are on a roll and will probably advance to face India in the final once more. Forget Kohli and Sharma against Gayle and Samuels; it's about time the media recognised the competition between spinners Ashwin and Mishra versus Badree and Narine.

First Class Cricketers of 2012

Kevin Pietersen made a lot of headlines in 2012, not always for the right reasons. It surprised me to see that he ended the year having scored more first-class runs than anyone else in the world! The tally of 1,932 probably owed much to his international layoff in the summer which enabled him to score heavily for Surrey, followed by a productive Test series in India.

England played 15 Tests in the year so their other top batsmen appear high on the list, too. Alastair Cook was in great form with or without the captaincy, accumulating 1,880, of which 1,249 came in England colours. Nick Compton started 2012 as an England Lions player, enjoyed a prolific start to Somerset's Championship season, spent months out injured then came back to play all four Tests on England's tour of England as a stand-in opener. His 1,855 runs put him third in the first-class list, averaging a very impressive 77.29.

Australians occupy the next three places. Ed Cowan has yet to cement a place in the national side but he played a lot of cricket, domestic and international, to score 1,784 runs in total. Michael Clarke appeared in barely half the number of first-class matches as Cowan, yet gathered only 16 fewer runs across the year. His Test tally of 1,595 was comfortably ahead of nearest challengers Cook, Hashim Amla, Pietersen and Trott, the only others to reach four figures in 2012. Chris Rogers is the only non-Test playing man to top 1,700 runs in the calendar year. His 2012 included a mighty 49 innings for Middlesex and Victoria, yielding 1,737 runs.

Like Cowan, Phil Hughes put in a good shift in all formats last year but in Tests, special mention should go to Shiv Chanderpaul, whose nine appearances for the West Indies brought him 987 runs at an average of just under 100. Mike Hussey can hold his head high as he faces retirement as his last full year for Australia brought him 898 runs at a shade under 60.

The most eye-catching stats for a wicketkeeper were AB De Villiers' 815 Test runs at 58, although he only donned the gloves after Mark Boucher's sad career-ending eye injury at Taunton in the summer. Matt Prior showed again how useful a batsman he can be, even at six or seven, accmuulating 777 runs at 39 for England. In all first-class games, only Sarfraz Ahmed dismissed more batsmen than Prior: 65 from 16 games in Pakistan. Hampshire's young 'keeper Michael Bates enjoyed a great summer, but needs to work on his batting to threaten Prior's position as England's number one.

Rangana Herath pipped fellow spinner Graeme Swann to top the Test wicket-taking table of 2012, with 60 in only 10 games. A shame none of his Sri Lanka team-mates could follow his lead. Anderson and Broad also took at least 40 Test wickets each but when it comes to all first-class victims, one Englishman stands head and shoulders above the rest in world cricket: Monty Panesar. His 102 included 33 in England colours, where he often outshone the established Swann, whose annual tally was 81.

Ahead of Swann was another off-spinner, Jeetan Patel. He didn't have a great year for Wellington or New Zealand but played a big part in Warwickshire's County Championship triumph, as did Chris Wright and Keith Barker. It wasn't a year only for the slow bowlers. Vernon Philander may not have matched his sensational start to Test cricket in 2011, but his 85 wickets in all first-class cricket placed him second in the world. A fair proportion of them came for Somerset, even on the traditional batting track at Taunton.

Jackson Bird's 70+ wickets for Tasmania and Australia A at under 20 apiece finally earned him an international call-up and he looked a useful fast bowler in the defeat of Sri Lanka in the dying days of 2012. Graeme Onions was also in fine form in an otherwise mediocre Durham side last summer, averaging a mere 16.24 from his 16 matches.

I haven't actually mentioned any genuine all-rounders. That's because 2012 didn't appear to be a vintage year for those who excel at both batting and bowling in the first-class game. Is this because T20 has channelled those with dual talents into playing in a way that simply doesn't suit longer-form cricket? Maybe it's just a blip!

If I had to pick first-class teams of the year, here goes....

ALL 1st class cricket:-

Cook, Cowan, Compton, Pietersen, Clarke(*), Pujara, Prior(+), Philander, Bird, Onions, Panesar.

TESTS: Cook, G Smith, Amla, Kallis, Chanderpaul, Clarke (*), De Villers(+), Swann, Philander, Anderson, Herath

One-day cricket to follow....

England spun out again

Yesterday I looked back at the previous England tour of Sri Lanka, which began with a Sri Lankan victory by 88 runs having set the visitors 350 to win. That is eerily similar to what happened this week in Galle, where the target was an almost-as-unlikely 340. In December 2007, it was Ian Bell and Matt Prior who had given Vaughan's side hope but there was no Jonathan Trott in those days.

Now he is becoming indispensible to England and while he was at the crease, the tide seemed to be turning slowly but surely their way. As I sneaked glimpses of the score at work, I witnessed the total edging towards then past 200, reducing the target to below 100, and still with six wickets remaining. However, Jayawardene is no fool, and he kept faith with the spinners Herath and Randiv, well aware of England's struggles against the turning ball not only against Pakistan but also in the first innings, where the former took 6-74, including four LBWs. That screams technical flaws, either missing the sweep or playing back to full length deliveries. I know it's easy to write and not so difficult when you're out in the middle. You have to focus like hell in the heat, batting to avoid defeat yet also to give your country a chance of a record-breaking fourth innings victory.

Strauss, Cook, Pietersen and Bell had each reached double figures before coming a cropper but Trott did what he does best: lay down the anchor, watch the ball and defend the good ones and punish the loose. While the other batsmen often fell to a mix of ugly shots and brilliant fielding, he progressed to his seventh century in 27 Tests. His 81-run partnership with Matt Prior must have jangled the nerves of the Sri Lankan side and fans, but when the 'keeper was caught at short leg on 41, there were still more than 100 runs required.

Debutant Samit Patel is no mug with the bat but he was caught at the second attempt by Dilshan after a bit of a one-day lofted cover drive, and the confidence seemed to drain from the England side. Dilshan took another excellent catch to dismiss Trott and then the tail not only failed to wag but drooped miserably in the Galle sunshine. The final three wickets tumbled in eight balls and that was that.

Four successive Test defeats for England and the first on home soil for Sri Lanka since Murali retired may signal a slight change in the world order, or it just reinforces the fact that England are useless against spin on Asian and Middle Eastern wickets and supreme everywhere else. South Africa will be a real Test later in the summer but first there is a second Test in Colombo to face. If it is exciting as this one, who can complain? OK, runs were hard to come by, unless your name is Jayawardene or Trott (!) but it wasn't a total spinfest, not in the first few days anyway. Rangana Herath achieved a double 'six-for', and Graeme Swann also rediscovered that flight and turn second time around. James Anderson was the pick of England's attack in the first innings.

In the end, I think the difference between the two sides was not Monty's dropped catches (although they didn't help!) but England batsmen's inability to read spin delivered with control and guile. This is a new golden era for slow bowling and batsmen simply have to learn how to play it in the five- (or four-) day format. We have excellent players who play with a degree of patience and concentration. Now they have to perform together next week to avoid the humiliation of a fifth straight defeat.