First Test: Sri Lanka v England in Galle, 6/11/18.
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:00 am
Tuesday, 04.30 GMT.
England have never won in Galle in four attempts, their most memorable effort coming in 2003 when Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard's last wicket rearguard hung on for a draw as the light closed in. During those days in the reign of Muttiah Muralitharan and some bespoke pitches, England travelled to the Resplendent Isle with less hope than they did even to India and any draw was worth celebrating and usually included some valorous defensive heroics. That England won in Sri Lanka in 2001 can seem like false memory syndrome so surreally improbable it appears; and the main protagonists of the victory, Giles, Graham Thorpe and Darren Gough will linger long in the affections of their supporters.
Yet even on that tour, England were pasted by an innings in the first Test in Galle, with a hundred and a fifty from Marcus Trescothick among his finest Test performances. There may not be many stories of past glories on the tour of 2018, as only stalwart seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have toured there before, and both average over 40. Both sides are in steep decline and lack experience in key positions. Especially so with Sri Lanka when Rangana Herath retires after the Galle Test, which surely guarantees a dust bowl to see him off. And yet, an exciting and unpredictable series feels likely. It is difficult to foresee who the series winners will be. England will be out of their comfort zone in Asia with a weak batting line up, but against bowlers with little international pedigree (once Herath has made way). Sri Lanka will have their spinners to rely on, who were still good enough to whitewash Australia and South Africa at home but are falling through the rankings so quickly there is concern for their future in this format.
At last the heavy scoring Surrey opener Rory Burns will make his debut, curiously overlooked for so long while over a dozen other less prolific batters got their chance at the top of the order. Similarly, will a great of Sri Lankan club cricket, Malinda Pushpakumara, finally get a decent chance to break into Test cricket at the age of 32, and enjoy the kind of late flowering that Herath did? In spite of the usual reservations it is always interesting to see England back playing Test cricket, and while these tourists might not be the legends of 2001 it'll be engaging to see which of these emerging players will make their names, and which will only be curiosities uncovered by future searches on statsguru.
My prediction, a 2-1 home win, assuming the rain stays away. Sri Lanka are still proving good enough to beat everyone but India on their pitches and you have to go back four years to find a draw.
England have never won in Galle in four attempts, their most memorable effort coming in 2003 when Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard's last wicket rearguard hung on for a draw as the light closed in. During those days in the reign of Muttiah Muralitharan and some bespoke pitches, England travelled to the Resplendent Isle with less hope than they did even to India and any draw was worth celebrating and usually included some valorous defensive heroics. That England won in Sri Lanka in 2001 can seem like false memory syndrome so surreally improbable it appears; and the main protagonists of the victory, Giles, Graham Thorpe and Darren Gough will linger long in the affections of their supporters.
Yet even on that tour, England were pasted by an innings in the first Test in Galle, with a hundred and a fifty from Marcus Trescothick among his finest Test performances. There may not be many stories of past glories on the tour of 2018, as only stalwart seamers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have toured there before, and both average over 40. Both sides are in steep decline and lack experience in key positions. Especially so with Sri Lanka when Rangana Herath retires after the Galle Test, which surely guarantees a dust bowl to see him off. And yet, an exciting and unpredictable series feels likely. It is difficult to foresee who the series winners will be. England will be out of their comfort zone in Asia with a weak batting line up, but against bowlers with little international pedigree (once Herath has made way). Sri Lanka will have their spinners to rely on, who were still good enough to whitewash Australia and South Africa at home but are falling through the rankings so quickly there is concern for their future in this format.
At last the heavy scoring Surrey opener Rory Burns will make his debut, curiously overlooked for so long while over a dozen other less prolific batters got their chance at the top of the order. Similarly, will a great of Sri Lankan club cricket, Malinda Pushpakumara, finally get a decent chance to break into Test cricket at the age of 32, and enjoy the kind of late flowering that Herath did? In spite of the usual reservations it is always interesting to see England back playing Test cricket, and while these tourists might not be the legends of 2001 it'll be engaging to see which of these emerging players will make their names, and which will only be curiosities uncovered by future searches on statsguru.
My prediction, a 2-1 home win, assuming the rain stays away. Sri Lanka are still proving good enough to beat everyone but India on their pitches and you have to go back four years to find a draw.