Series 1-1

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UMPIRES

A game so full of incident, it is difficult to know where to start. An inspired England win thanks to gutsy batting and explosive pace-bowling, was certainly worth watching. The other events were entertaining in a less memorable way.

On a pitch offering something for all the bowlers, coupled with a lightning outfield, Sri Lanka would have hoped for a more imposing total after 'lucky' Nasser Hussain, came second in the coin-tossing game again.

Sri Lanka had been 80 for four before Mahela Jayawardene showed some real class, and continued his rich winter form in his century, aided by Russell Arnold and Tillekeratne Dilshan. Then England struck again, taking the last six wickets for 76, with Gough, Caddick and White all fired up.

In reply at 204 for two, England in the form of an attacking Nasser Hussain and a confident Graham Thorpe were in the driving seat, before one too many attacking shots from Hussain , after a deserved, if fortunate century saw England lose some of their advantage before the close on the second day. This included another Hick failure, to the sound of the selectors guillotine being sharpened.

But on day three England's lower order, aided by another watchful fifty from Alec Stewart took them into the lead. His effort of concentration, was backed up by continued good form from Craig white, and in particular a last wicket stand of 41 by Croft (33*) and Gough.

A lead of 90, was the spark for England's attack, and ten-minutes in to their second innings, Sri Lanka were 3 for three.

With Atapattu, de Silva and an unfortunate Jayasuriya gone, the game was seemingly England's for the taking. At the close they stood, 98 for 8, just eight ahead. Only Kumar Sangakkara stood between England and an easy victory.

He stood firm on the fourth day, aided by Dharmasena and the handy Chaminda Vaas, adding a further 152 runs for the last four wickets. England now had some work to do. Atherton and Trescothick departed early, leaving an injured Hussain and Thorpe to steady the chasing tourists. They both departed before the close, leaving England 70 more with six wickets intact, and a tense finale in store.

In the end, England were comfortable winners, Hick and Croft chipped in, before White partnered by Ashley Giles, stroked the winning four to set up a final Test thriller between two evenly matched sides. Gough's all-round efforts (8 wickets and his 10 valuable runs) won him man of the match, although a certain Umpire BC Cooray may never forget what may well be his last Test.

I steered clear of commenting too much on the decisions of Cooray and Koetzen in Kandy. Sufficed to say, things must change, the ICC must act to improve standards at all levels of the game, or these bad tempered games will stain the games image irrevocably.
Richard Kendall