BY SA'ADI Thawfeeq

IF England 'A' coach Rod Marsh was over the moon, don't blame him. He had every right to be feeling so after his team had outplayed Sri Lanka 'A' in the first four-day unofficial cricket Test to win by a comprehensive margin of 197 runs at the CCC grounds yesterday.

The former Australian Test wicket-keeper now the head of the ECB Cricket Academy said that it was a 'fantastic performance' for his team to come over here from minus degrees at home and perform the way they did.

Of course they spent a few days in UAE playing four one-day matches in more pleasant conditions than the energy sapping humidity that Colombo provided.

Marsh said his team was beginning to enjoy each other's company and everyone had the urge to do well. What Marsh has done is to knit this second string England side into a unit of hardcore professionals on the lines of the Australians.

"The boys have lost a lot of skin for their country" was how Marsh described the effort of his team in beating the Sri Lankans in their own home conditions.

"Sri Lanka are a very good side but I don't think they played to their potential," said Marsh.

Sri Lanka 'A's performance to be dismissed twice for totals of 228 and 239 was rather disappointing. Considering how they performed on a pitch described by Marsh as 'magnificent I couldn't have asked for anything better' it was doubtful even if Sri Lanka 'A' had batted first whether they could have saved the match.

Having gained the upperhand on the first day and run up a first innings total of 424, England 'A' never let the game slip out of their grasp.

"I think we played the better cricket throughout the four days," said England 'A' skipper Ian Bell. "We didn't allow them to dominate a single session. We batted them out of the game.

Bell said that it was a big team effort but warned that his side should not underestimate the opposition.

"I know that Sri Lanka don't like losing at home. They are definitely going to come back. The last time I was here they did just that. If you give them a little room they will capitalize on it. We were very conscious of that fact throughout the match," said Bell.

England 'A' closed their second innings at the overnight total of 240-5 leaving Sri Lanka 'A' a stiff target of chasing 437 off a minimum of 97 overs.

By lunch the writing was on the wall for the home side when they lost five wickets for 112. Fast bowler Thilan Thushara who entertained the sparse crowd to a grand display of batting delayed the inevitable.

The tall left-hander who has a first-class century to his name, struck eight fours and four sixes in making the highest score for the home team - 69 off 61 balls.

Thushara and Bandara (23) put together 77 runs in 56 minutes for the eighth wicket. The only other form of resistance came from Jayawardene and Wijekoon who added 49 for the sixth wicket.

Once again the lower order batsmen scored the majority of the runs for Sri Lanka 'A'.

In the first innings they recovered from 130-6 to score 228 and yesterday they enhanced the total from 71-5 to 239.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann despite coming for some 'stick' from the broad bat of Thushara when he conceded 18 runs in one over inclusive of two sixes, took his revenge finally when he had him caught off his own bowling. The Northants spinner ended up with figures of five for 79 for his 13th five-for haul in first-class cricket.

ENGLAND ‘A’ 1ST INNINGS 424
SRI LANKA ‘A’1ST INNINGS 228
ENGLAND ‘A’ 2ND INNINGS 240-5 decl.

SRI LANKA ‘A’ 2ND INNINGS 

D.A. Gunawardene c Cook b Harrison   	8 
G.I. Daniel c Shah b Mahmood   		25 
A.S. Polonowita b Harrison   		5 
J. Mubarak c Prior b Gidman   		24 
S.H.T. Kandamby c Powell b Mahmood   	0 
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene c Cook b Swann   	36 
M.R.G. Wijekoon c Clarke b Swann   	18 
C.M. Bandara c Prior b Swann   		23 
M.M.T. Thushara c and b Swann   	69 
M.M.S. Mohamed not out   		17 
P.N. Ranjith b Swann   			8 

EXTRAS (b-1, lb-2, nb-2, w-1) 		6 

TOTAL (all out, 66.5 overs, 310 mins)  	239 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-9, 2-27, 3-57, 4-57, 5-71, 6-120, 
7-125, 8-202, 9-221, 10-239.

Bowling: Lewis 9-2-26-0 (1nb), Harrison 10-4-20-2 (1w), 
Mahmood 9-1-45-2, Clarke  8-1-27-0, Gidman 10-2-37-1 (1nb), 
Swann 19.5-4-79-5, Shah  1-0-2-0.