sussexpob wrote:I worry for Sri Lankas future in the longer format of the game, if they couldnt beat this England team on home soil, or on a pitch like this where its set up for them. They have a couple of decent players, surrounded by a lot of dross. England have won what, 6 out of 7 tests, without a real top class spinner, no established 1,2,3... a 4 thats been off his best, 5,6 not scoring.....
Is this test cricket in 2018? A battle of how many tailenders you can cram into terrible top orders?
Especially with the test batting average of players of your country, it is indeed a matter of huge concern for Lanka. Bowling is obviously a concern for SL.
Another important factor imo is the toss. England won both the toss. They failed to follow the template in Asia fully though by not scoring anything between 400- 500. But the spinners ensured that a match winning lead was there which put enough 4th innings pressure on SL.
In second match too, England again opted to bowl last. The batting unit in this test too failed to post a good first innings total, neither did bowlers bail them out. Joe Root will rate this as one of his best knocks in test cricket as it turned the match in England's favor and gave England bowlers a match winning total on Day 4 spinners wicket.
England were under par in both first innings in spite of winning toss. There is huge scope of improvement in that aspect. Spin bowling strategy is better with three spinners for spinning wicket. Rashid needs to pick more wickets. 7 wickets after bowling in 4 innings in Asia is poor show. Moreover 2 innings he was bowling with opposition under huge pressure and Day 4 wicket which was giving good spin to him. He has massively under performed imo. Even the one with all-rounder tag has outperformed him.
Test FL's - 8 , ODI and Tests Combo FL's - 1, ODI World Cup - 1, ODI FL's - 7, ODI and T20i combo FL's - 1 ,
T20 Franchisee FL's - 7, T20i Cup FL's- 1, T20 FL's- 5 , 50 Overs Domestic FL's - 1, 40 Overs Domestic FL's- 1