Sri Lanka received present they wanted -a full tour of England

By A.C. De Silva

Sri Lanka in Test Cricket:

Sri Lanka waited and waited and it was their 21st year as a Test-playing nation. Sri Lanka's long wait was finally recognised with the present they most wanted: a first full tour of England. But the party just could not get going. They were minus Muttiah Muralitharan for the first part of the tour; when he did arrive, they lost the last two Tests by a big margin. England played so well that a two-nil victory did not flatter them, but Sri Lanka certainly helped gift-wrap it.

Failure to reach the final of the triangular one-day series compounded an unhappy tour, which was in total contrast to the giddy, all-conquering stopover in 1998.

When Sri Lanka coach then, Dav Whatmore, said that he saw that Sri Lanka did fared adequately, but was somewhat disappointed that the team did not have where with all to win abroad.

Sanath Jayasuriya, a fine effective player throughout, set the tore, though he wasn't the only one to somewhat complain.

Sri Lanka's Australian bowling coach then, Daryl Foster, resigned in an argument over travel expenses, Aravinda de Silva was robbed of 3,000 at a Chesterfield hotel, and the tour manager Chandra Schaffter, found out during the Third Test that his contract would not be renewed.

It was a tour of three distinct parts. Sri Lanka started like a side counting the days until Murali recovered from a dislocated shoulder, rallied, briefly to dominate the drawn first Test without him, and then, when he was back in the side, played just as the book says subcontinental sides should in a English May and June. They didn't win a single match, not even against British Universities.

England won their first Test series since going to Sri Lanka 15 months earlier and completed their first double on the ICC Test Championship table. Never had the England players then dominated a rubber quite so extensively: this was England's first 2-0 win in a home series since 1978. From the start of the second innings at Lord's, England averaged 65 per wicket, Sri Lanka just 27.

Hussain's captaincy sparkling

Enjoying all the opportunities that came their way, Nasser Hussain's captaincy of England was at its most sparkling.

Not once in the field did he have to defend a total of less than 500, and he allowed himself treats he couldn't usually afford.

His declaration gave the First Test a kick when most captains would have happily kept their feet up, and most of his field playings came off too: when Hussain put himself at leg gully for De Silva at Old Trafford, the ball followed him within an over. He even starting winning the toss.

Sri Lanka arrived in April on the back of nine consecutive Test wins - a record surpassed only by the two great sides of modern cricket history, the 1980s West Indies and the then Australians - yet few people took that statistic seriously.

Eight of the wins had been at home, the other in Lahore. It was widely believed that outside the subcontinent, and especially in the English spring, the limitations of their angled bats and flashy strokes would be exposed.

Came Sri Lanka for the Test at Lord's on May 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and this ended in a draw. Sri Lanka made 555 for 8 wickets declared and 42 for 1 declared. England made 275 and 529 for 5 wickets.

English Captain Nasser Hussain lost the toss for the 19th time in 22.

Sri Lanka started on disastrous note

Sri Lanka chose to bat and started on a disastrous note when Sanath Jayasuriya misjudged a third run and was run-out for 18. Sangakkara edged Haggard to slip, just as forecast and Sri Lanka were 55 for 2. But they had not studied the script, because nearly four hours later that was 261 for 3 and England were reeling.

Atapattu and Jayawardene batted well displaying style and finesse in a stand of 206. These two batsmen were involved in a fourth-wicket partnership of 146 runs.

Atapattu had already shown his skills before a Lord's audience, whereas Jayawardene was a revelation. Jayawardene made (107) and Atapttu (185).

Came the second day and Atapattu failed by only 15 runs to make his sixth Test double century. The Aravinda de Silva made 88.

There were others who were among the runs for Sri Lanka. R. Arnold made 50, and Sri Lanka made the top score of 555 for 8 wickets and closed their first innings.

England lost early wicket

England lost a wicket before the close on the second day at 17.

Then England did not bat adequately on the second day. Came day No.2 and England were all out for 275 in their first innings. M.P. Vaughan made 64, N. Hussain got 57 and England were all out for 275.

Lankan bowling honours went to Zoysa a for 82, T. Fernando 3 for 83, Perera 3 for 48.

Came the second innings of Sri Lanka and they declared at 42 for 1 wicket.

The result may well have been decided in the first 20 minutes of the sunny morning of the fourth day. However, Jayasuriya at first slip dropped Vaughan twice. Both appeared to be easy chances.

The first wicket pair of M.E. Trescothick (76) and M.P. Vaughan (115), M.A. Butcher (105), G.P. Thorpe (65) and N. Hussain (68) and also J.P. Crawley (41 not out) made useful contributions to prop up the England second innings total to 529 for 5 wickets and so England were able to force a draw in the match.

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA FIRST INNINGS
M.S. Atapattu c Trescothick b Cook	       185
S.T. Jayasuriya run out	 			18
K.C. Sangakkara c Flintoff b Hoggard	 	10
M D Jayawardene  c Trescothick b Ferntoft      107
P A de Silva c Stewart b Cook	 		88
R P Arnold c Trescothick b Hoggard	 	50
H P Tillekeratne not out	 		17
W C Vaas c Trescothick b Cook	  		06
D N T Zoysa c Stewart b Flintoff	 	28
T C B Fernando not out	  			06
Extras (B-1, lb 13, w-1, nb 25)	 		40
Total: (for 8 wkts dec)			       555

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-55, 3-261, 4-407, 5-492, 6-492
		 7-505, 8-540
Bowling: A-R- Caddick 38.3-8-125-0
	 M.J. Heggard 39-4-160-2
	 D.G. Cork 35-3-83-3
	 A. Flintoff 39-8-107-2
	 B.M.A. Butcher 3-0-17-0
	 M. Vaughan 14-2-23-0

ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS
M E Trescothick c Jayasuriya b Zoysa	 	13
M P Vaughan c Zoysa b Perera	 		64
M A Butcher c Jayawardene b Fernando	 	17
N Hussain c Sangakkara b Zoysa	 		57
G P Thorpe lbw b Perera	 			27
J P Crawley c Sangakkara b Vaas	 		31
A J Stewart run out	  			07
A Flintoff c Sangakkara b Fernando	 	12
D G Cook c Sangakkara b Fernando	  	00
A R Caddick c Sangakkara b Perera	 	13
M J Hoggard not out	  			00
Extras (B-4, lb-7, w-9, nb-14)	 		34
Total					       275

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-43, 3-149, 4-203, 5-203, 6-214
		 7-237, 8-237, 9-267
Bowling: J.C. Vaas 21.1-4-51-1
	 D.N. Zoysa 19-3-72-2
	 T. Fernando 22-5-80-3
	 Perera 11-0-38-3

SRI LANKA SECOND INNINGS
M.S. Atapattu c Butcher b Caddick	  	07
K.C. Sangakkara not out	  			06	
D Jayawardene not out	 			14
Extras (B-5, lb-2, nb-8)	 		15
Total (for 1 wkts declosed)	 		42

Fall of wickets: 1-16
Bowling: A.R. Caddick 7-2-10-1
	 A Flintoff 5-0-10-0
	 M. Hoggard 1-0-7-0

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS
M E Trescothick lbw b Zoysa	 		76
M P Vaughan c Sangakkara b Perera	       115
M A Butcher run out			       105
N Hussain lbw b Perera	 			68
G P Thorpe c Fernando b De Silva	 	65
J P Crawley not out	 			41
A J Stewart not out	 			26
Extras (B-1, lb-9, W-1, nb-22,	 		33
Total (for 5 wkts)			       529

Fall of wickets: 1-168, 2-213, 3-372, 4-432, 5-483.
Bowling: J.C. Vaas 44-8-113-0
	 D N Zoysa 34-6-84-1
	 Perera 30-4-90-2
	 P.A. De Silva 27-7-63-1
	 T. Fernando 26-1-83-0
	 S.T. Jayasuriya 25-6-56-0
	 R. Arnold 4-1-7-0
	 H. Tillekeratne 1-1-0-0