Dom Bess and Jack Leach delivered under pressure to bowl out Sri Lanka, but will India’s batsmen be so accommodating?The Test was in the balance early on the fourth morning. Sri Lanka’s openers had rattled off 15 quick runs from the opening overs of their second innings, and their team’s lead was just up above 50. And all the time, in the back of the mind, there was the nagging flashback to all the ham-fisted collapses England have endured over the years, and their early struggles having been set 74 to win the first Test on this same ground in the fourth innings last week. The way Lasith Embuldeniya has been bowling so far this series, you wondered how many...
The spinner received limited appreciation at this stripped-back show but his performance handed the hosts the edgeEven when full, the ground at Galle has rarely been a raucous venue. There’s something about its openness, not to mention the scenery and the sea breeze surrounding it, that gives off a laidback air. Without an obscuring crowd, without an embassy of England fans tooting and swaying through Sweet Caroline, the fort is a particularly steadying sight, its grass-covered ramparts freshly green, its crenellations crisply outlined and overlooked by a benevolent watch tower.Welcome to the austerity games, the stripped-back show that is as far from the crazed excitement of pre-Covid IPL as Quavers are from baked camembert. Related: Majestic Joe Root run out...
England’s record wicket-taker shines on return in place of Stuart Broad but there is an argument Joe Root’s attack would be more effective with the pair bowling in tandemJimmy Anderson, bloody hell. Six for 40, in fierce heat, while everyone else managed four for 339. His best haul in Asia, 17 years after he first played there. The first five-for recorded in an Asian Test by a 38-year-old seamer. I could go on, but it is only 24 hours since this space was last devoted to Anderson’s excellence.Happily, there is another angle here that is just as interesting: the ramifications of rotation. On England’s Sri Lanka tour, Anderson and Stuart Broad are sharing a place in the starting XI. It...
England veteran showed undimmed resolve in his 157th Test to wring out three cheap wickets in tough bowling conditions Here he comes again then, running in from the Fort End, a flat and disobliging pitch underneath, and a new ball to work with. This is Jimmy Anderson’s 19th year in Test cricket, and his 157th Test, not that any of that seems to make much difference. As his teammate Mark Wood said at the end of the day, Anderson seems to be bowling just as well as ever. This is his fifth tour of Sri LankaHe came here when he was a kid in 2003, for his first Test overseas, and got carted around the SSC, again in 2007, a...
The unorthodox spinner may always attract criticism but against Sri Lanka he has shown the value of his turbulent styleDom Bess is at school. He’s reading out loud in class. He’s never been the most gifted of students, but he tries hard and desperately wants to do well. But now – for some reason – the words aren’t coming out. His classmates snigger. His teacher tells him to keep going. Still the words refuse to come. There’s no escape. Breath quickening, cheeks burning with embarrassment and wet with tears, Bess breaks down.A few years later, Bess and his girlfriend are in Ikea looking at sofas for their new home. His phone rings. It’s Ed Smith, England’s national selector. Bess may...