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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by barmyarmy -
Fresh from victory in Sydney, Andrew Strauss, the England captain, knew what his priorities were ? to make England the best test side in the world. Where better to start with than with a home series against India. Before that the summer?s ?weaker? opponent, following in the footsteps of Bangladesh and the West Indies, was to be Sri Lanka.
For a team who have explicitly admitted that test cricket is only third priority, for a team missing so many stars of the past and for a team who play away from home so infrequently what chance could they have against the all-conquering Ashes champions?
The two Andrews ? Flower and Strauss ? will not have been fooled. Nonetheless they will have reasoned that Sri Lanka?s great strength, their batting, could be blunted somewhat by English early season conditions. Instead the sun has shone and Sri Lanka found a pitch in Cardiff that despite the rain made them feel right at home.
Part of England?s success on their recent Ashes tour was down to result pitches that favour the bowling team ? historically England have struggled more on flat decks where swing and seam vanish and batsmen find ways to get themselves out. Sofia Gardens is certainly not a Columbo pitch but Sri Lanka still saw enough in it to play a 5 man attack including two spinners.
In a series where Sri Lanka, on paper at least, have inexperienced bowlers and a batting lineup still riding high on confidence from their run-a-thon series against India someone might have put in a word to the ground staff in Cardiff. This is already a big enough challenge without heaping pressure onto the English bowling attack.
Sri Lanka have a chance now to make a statement of intent. A 400+ first innings total will give their bowlers confidence and, presuming they can bowl more accurately than the truly dreadful Australian attack, the chance to apply pressure. If England aren?t careful they will receive a sharp reminder that they beat an average side and remain themselves an average side.
Make no mistake this will be a tough series and any kind of series victory would be an outstanding result. England may have thought that the real test was against India but if they?re not popping champagne corks after this series then Sydney will seem a long way away and their pretensions of being the best in the world will be further.
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It?s hard to believe that England?s extraordinary humiliation of Australia was so recent. A lot seems to have happened since. The equally (and oppositely) humiliating one day series, the sporadically memorable World Cup and of course IPL4.
Fresh from victory in Sydney, Andrew Strauss, the England captain, knew what his priorities were ? to make England the best test side in the world. Where better to start with than with a home series against India. Before that the summer?s ?weaker? opponent, following in the footsteps of Bangladesh and the West Indies, was to be Sri Lanka.
For a team who have explicitly admitted that test cricket is only third priority, for a team missing so many stars of the past and for a team who play away from home so infrequently what chance could they have against the all-conquering Ashes champions?
The two Andrews ? Flower and Strauss ? will not have been fooled. Nonetheless they will have reasoned that Sri Lanka?s great strength, their batting, could be blunted somewhat by English early season conditions. Instead the sun has shone and Sri Lanka found a pitch in Cardiff that despite the rain made them feel right at home.
Part of England?s success on their recent Ashes tour was down to result pitches that favour the bowling team ? historically England have struggled more on flat decks where swing and seam vanish and batsmen find ways to get themselves out. Sofia Gardens is certainly not a Columbo pitch but Sri Lanka still saw enough in it to play a 5 man attack including two spinners.
In a series where Sri Lanka, on paper at least, have inexperienced bowlers and a batting lineup still riding high on confidence from their run-a-thon series against India someone might have put in a word to the ground staff in Cardiff. This is already a big enough challenge without heaping pressure onto the English bowling attack.
Sri Lanka have a chance now to make a statement of intent. A 400+ first innings total will give their bowlers confidence and, presuming they can bowl more accurately than the truly dreadful Australian attack, the chance to apply pressure. If England aren?t careful they will receive a sharp reminder that they beat an average side and remain themselves an average side.
Make no mistake this will be a tough series and any kind of series victory would be an outstanding result. England may have thought that the real test was against India but if they?re not popping champagne corks after this series then Sydney will seem a long way away and their pretensions of being the best in the world will be further.
More...
