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by Malsiri Kurukulasuriya

After twenty years of step-motherly treatment, Sri Lanka was awarded a full tour of England. The expectations were high. And for good reason. We had 8 consecutive test wins. The batting was strong with 500 runs an innings routine stuff. The bowling revolved around Murali and Vaas, they were backed up adequate bowling and brilliant fielding. In England none of this was evident on a regular basis.

Why after being kept away for so long we were given a tour commencing in April? Anyone who has played cricket in England will know how cold, rainy and miserable conditions are that time of the year. The practice games ahead of the 1st Test in Mid-May were all curtailed by rain. Neither the bowlers nor the batsmen were really ready for the Test match (which was only the 4th time such a game was played in May).

Without Murali it was a daunting task. However, the batting confirmed our reputation of consistency and the 500 run mark was achieved quite nonchalantly. Marvan and Mahela enhanced their reputations as world class batsmen. The bowling sans Murali performed admirably. They dismissed England for 275 runs and sent them in again. That was the high point of the tour. From then on it was all downhill.

As one looks back there are certain incidents that occurred which were significant in explaining the poor performances that followed.

One of the key factors that contributed to our slump was Sanath's poor batting and captaincy. Sanath has never had such a patch of poor performances in his entire career. I believe the problems began in the first hour of the First Test. Marvan and he were going quite nicely, when Sanath attempted a third run which was not there. That run out was an omen of worst things to follow. When England batted Sanath dropped two sitters to give England an opportunity to make an impressive start and set them on the road to a score of 500 plus.

He went to a defensive field placing much too early. It is no secret that the English side were poor players of spin. In Murali's absence, it was upto Sanath to bowl himself, with Aravinda and Arnold in support. None of them bowled a single over in England's first innings and less than 10 overs in England's mammoth second innings. It was hard to understand. The First Test interrupted by rain ended in a draw.

Murali and Dilhara Fernando were considered for the second Test, but the latter was ruled out due to the pain he still encountered at the point of delivery. Mural was hardly 100% but was included nevertheless. This was quite evident in his bowling. He could not extend his left arm fully which meant his body was not into his delivery. Even at that he bowled a marathon spell of 64 overs to capture 5 wickets.

The second Test was decided on the toss. Sent into bat the Sri Lankans were quickly in trouble. There was considerable lateral movement and bounce. Under these conditions I don't think any side would have made 200 runs. The gutsy batting of Marvan, Mahela and Aravinda should be remembered. The same could not be said of Sanath and Sangakkara.

But Kumar's wicket keeping was nothing short of brilliant. Other than these there was nothing worthy of mention as we collapsed to an innings defeat (losing our first Test in 10 games). Defeat in a Test match is not a national tragedy, but the manner in which the team played was reason for much concern. The batting and fielding which had been a source of pride was gone. The bowling was hardly Test class. Only Vaas, despite the lack of bagging wickets, stood out. He was accurate and troubled all the batsmen.

We had the best chance of victory in the Third Test because the wicket at Old Trafford helped the medium pacers; and the spinners could extract spin and bounce. England lost Caddick early and this improved our chances. But this never happened. Dilhara playing in his first Test of this series, showed good pace but it was clear his long lay off had taken its toll on his control. But he certainly is going to be heard from if he keeps away from injuries.

The loss of Caddick was soon off set by the injury to Atapattu. But at least he was able to return to offer some resistance in that last innings. At least there was some comfort watching Russel Arnold gain back his form. His 60 runs in the first and century in the second innings showed that not only is he good bat, but should be batting in the first 3 spots where he has had much success both for his club and country.

I feel the selectors erred badly in not playing Chandana. Given his ability to bowl and field and the improvement in his batting, he could very easily have taken Tillekeratne's spot without in any way weakening the side.

What of Aravinda? He is still a good bat, but his rate of scoring has slipped quite considerably. I feel he will announce his retirement at the end of this tour. We all wish him the very best; and also thank him for some wonderful innings that won him respect wherever he played. His 7000 runs places him in the company of all time greats in Test cricket.

The Third Test ended with Sanath again making some poor field placings. England had 36 balls to make 50 runs.

For reasons only Sanath could answer he had a spread out field conceding a single every ball. This meant that if England scored run a ball to 30 plus a few doubles and a four in between he had no chance putting any pressure.

So for Sanath, he startled and ended the series in a forgettable manner.

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