**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[Migara]

The Fixtures

Thu May 26 - Mon May 30: 1st Test - England v Sri Lanka - Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

Fri Jun 3 - Tue Jun 7: 2nd Test - England v Sri Lanka - Lord's, London

Fri Jun 10 - Sun Jun 12: Essex v Sri Lankans, County Ground, Chelmsford

Thu Jun 16 - Mon Jun 20: 3rd Test - England v Sri Lanka - The Rose Bowl, Southampton

Wed Jun 22: Worcestershire v Sri Lankans - County Ground, New Road, Worcester

Sat Jun 25: Only T20I - England v Sri Lanka - County Ground, Bristol

Tue Jun 28: 1st ODI - England v Sri Lanka - Kennington Oval, London

Fri Jul 1: 2nd ODI - England v Sri Lanka - Headingley, Leeds

Sun Jul 3: 3rd ODI - England v Sri Lanka - Lord's, London

Wed Jul 6: 4th ODI - England v Sri Lanka - Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Sat Jul 9: 5th ODI - England v Sri Lanka - Old Trafford, Manchester

Mon Jul 11: Tri-Nation Tournament in Scotland - Only ODI - Ireland v Sri Lanka - Grange Cricket Club Ground, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

Wed Jul 13: Tri-Nation Tournament in Scotland - Only ODI - Scotland v Sri Lanka - Grange Cricket Club Ground, Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

Test matches will be captained by Sanga. ODI captain most probably be Dilshan.

 

[keeper]

A warm welcome to Sri Lanka as ever - please just don't give us the runaround that you did last time you were here

Looks a fairly hectic schedule but maybe not an unusual one these days. First thoughts - they may regret having their first county game after 2/3rds of the Test series. And, of course, 5 ODIs is overkill.

 

[Migara]

SL is awaiting a lot of changes, especially in the test squad.

The Batsmen

Batting lineup for the tests was never much of a problem for SL. Paranavithana, Dilshan, Sangakkara, Jayawardane and Samaraweera will be the top five. Mathews will be the usual #6, but if he fails to regain fitness, Chamara Silva or Thilna Kandamby may replace him

Batting: P'vithana, Dilshan, Sanga, MJ, Sam, Mathews, Kandamby, Chamara Silva

The wicket keeper

Sanga and Dilshan are both skillful wicket keepers, but SL will be looking for their best keeper. Prasanna Jayawardane (PJ), unmistakably the top glovemen not only in SL. But his batting is a disaster. He as been scoring insanely big in the Premier league, but his problems against moving ball is well known. He'll take short bowling and spin to the cleaners like a pro, but in England bowlers won't be dishing short stuff or slow stuff at him. Kaushal Silva is a top class batsman, with more than acceptable glove work, and good in playing pace. Dinesh Chandimal is a swashbucking keeper0batsman, but his ability against moving ball is untested. His keeping is also acceptable.

Wikis: PJ, Kaushal Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Sanga, Dilshan

Fast bowlers
SL are found wanting here. Malinga won't play tests again. Thushara, who has been the spearhead is out of form, Kulasekara will be seful on seaming conditions. Mathews probably won't bowl in the test matches. This leaves SL with Fernando, who should be a must in England. He is in form and if he has a good day, any batting lineup will be in tatters. Suranga Lakmal promised well against WI, so, will be given a go. Perera has been doing well and has the knack of taking wickets. Can be tried on helpful conditions. Prasad had been wayward, but has never been offered helpful tracks to bowl on.

Fast bowlers: Matehws, Perera, Fernando, Lakmal, Kulasekara, Prasad, Thushara

Spinners
Randiv is the most in form spinner. Herath has experiance in England. Mendis is an enigma. Aravinda thinks Senanayake's action is suspect, but he's the second best spinner in the country ATM.

Spinners: Randiv, Herath, S'nayake, Mendis

These players will form the core squad for test matches.

 

[pskov]

Are they really not having any warm up matches before the first test?

Edit: Just checked and they play a three day match against Middlesex on 14th May followed by a 4 dayer against England Lions starting on the 19th. Thought it looked a bit odd that they wouldn't play before the test series started.

 

[Furball]

Thread title is incorrect.

Learn some geography.

 

[Migara]

Why don't you suggest the correct one?

Or is that England / Ireland thing?

 

[GIMH]

So, if everyone's fit, what XI do we play?

Cook
Strauss
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Morgan
Prior
Broad
Swann
Tremlett
Anderson

Or does Bresnan keep his place? Hard choice.

 

[Migara]

Will everyone be fit by the first test?

 

[Migara]

Tremlett was damn impressive when ever I've seen him bowl. Should play over Bresnan if fit. And you may not get much reverse swing in May as well.

 

[Howe_zat]

Broad doesn't deserve to get dropped if he's fully fit, so he'll come back in. There's less need for a long-game bowler like Bresnan on home wickets so I daresay he'll miss out. Hard on him but fair.

I'd like to see Hildreth play in the XI but there's almost no question Morgan will get it despite a lack of county appearances. There's a small chance of Bopara finding his way in but only if he has a fantastic run for Essex over the next month.

 

[Howe_zat]

Will everyone be fit by the first test?

Such is the plan. Broad and KP are missing the IPL for specifically that reason, and most other senior players like Strauss and Bell are being rested from county duty.

 

[Migara]

Getting worried about the fast bowlers. Thushara is injured and may be out of the tour. Played only one FC match in this year. Prasad has been sending pies.

Vaas to make a return perhaps?

 

[Neil Pickup]

Broad doesn't deserve to get dropped if he's fully fit, so he'll come back in. There's less need for a long-game bowler like Bresnan on home wickets so I daresay he'll miss out. Hard on him but fair.

I'd like to see Hildreth play in the XI but there's almost no question Morgan will get it despite a lack of county appearances. There's a small chance of Bopara finding his way in but only if he has a fantastic run for Essex over the next month.

I'm really unsold by Morgan against the moving ball. I've said it before but it bears repeating - if only to jam it down my throat at the end of the summer. We're more weakened by Colly's retirement/decline than just in the batting order, too - the fourth seamer is now Trott, and there's a massive pair of hands to fill at backward point and slip.

 

[Howe_zat]

Sri Lanka's spin bowling doesn't look immensely healthy either post-Murali. Randiv and Mendis aren't likely to be anywhere near as effective as they are in ODIs, especially away from home. Not wishing to sound hubristic but I think the bowlers will struggle.

I'm really unsold by Morgan against the moving ball. I've said it before but it bears repeating - if only to jam it down my throat at the end of the summer. We're more weakened by Colly's retirement/decline than just in the batting order, too - the fourth seamer is now Trott, and there's a massive pair of hands to fill at backward point and slip.

Couldn't agree more. Do you think the selectors will be tempted by Bopara's bowling?

 

[Migara]

Well, Morgan may not counter the moving ball much, unless from Kulasekara or Perera, because the SL seamers will not move it on a regular basis. Others like Prasad, Lakmal and Mathews are swing bowlers. What Fernando comes up with is very difficult to predict. But he may be very useful in countering spinners, who may become little difficult to handle with the bounce.

 

[keeper]

Tremlett was damn impressive when ever I've seen him bowl. Should play over Bresnan if fit. And you may not get much reverse swing in May as well.

GIMH has got the team that will be selected nailed on. I'm in the camp that wouldn't pick Morgan unless he shows a lot of county form. It's frightening how little first class cricket he's played over the past year and most of it consists of an ultimately poor series against Pakistan. Even his one day form has been sporadic of late. I'd like to see a Lion blooded, probably Hildreth.

 

[Neil Pickup]

SL seamers may not necessarily have to move it, the red ball is perfectly capable of doing that itself at this time of year - the fact that it's currently 20 degrees and glorious is guaranteed to not last... there must be a decent reason why the bloke averages so poorly in Championship cricket.

Bopara's bowling must be a tempter, even given the horlicks he made of playing Australia in 2009 - he has shown that he can make runs against other Test attacks, and number six may well suit him more than three ever did. I think a lot will depend on the way Ravi and Eoin start the season - anyone else (Hildreth, Taylor, Lyth, Gale) will need to set the grounds on fire to get noticed. Possibly literally.

 

[Migara]

Sri Lanka's spin bowling doesn't look immensely healthy either post-Murali. Randiv and Mendis aren't likely to be anywhere near as effective as they are in ODIs, especially away from home. Not wishing to sound hubristic but I think the bowlers will struggle.

Mendis won't trouble top class batsmen until he develops a proper off break and starts to function as a off spinner than a "mixed bag of ****".

Randiv will be difficult to get away anyway, because he's a bowler who beats batsmen on the vertical plane than the horizontal plane. Most of his dismissals come when batsmen misjudges the length of his. Senanayake has almost all the attributes of Randiv (being tall, and accurate), and gives the ball a serious rip. If he gets going, expect to see some batsmen looking up as fools. But with select suckers of SL, who has been ignoring him for two years, I'll be surprised if he's ever picked in the squad, yet alone playing XI.

 

[keeper]

It's a very good point about Collingwood's bowling. While obviouisly limited it clearlyhas more use than just plugging one end. I think it dangerous to compromise on the batting of a replacement to get equivalent bowling. Would prefer to pick a batsman and challenge the other batsmen to step up and improve their bowling. But it leaves us short when the batsmen get in and the wicket goes flat.

Do any of the Lions bowl? Hildreth? Think Taylor bowls leg-break?

 

[Neil Pickup]

FC stats:

Hildreth 5 wickets @ 83
Taylor 0 wickets
Gayle 4-0-47-1
Adams 11 wickets @ 60
Lyth 3 wickets @ 57

I think the answer to that is, unfortunately, no.