*Official* England in Sri Lanka 2021

[Smudge49]

I do think that the development structures that are available in the richer countries are driving a serious gap between the haves and have nots that's probably going to get worse before it gets better. Sri Lanka probably the most vulnerable to falling behind in this regard, having neither the money of the big 3, nor the enormous talent pool available in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan

Sri Lanka always unearthed these unconventional players like De Silva, Jayasurya, Murali, Dilshan, Malinga, Sangakara who were all very different and didn't have the style of play that you can technically coach other players to mimic.

So from a development point of view, that shouldn't have restricted the influx of such natural talents.

 

[DriveClub]

I think they're just in a talent hole. Realistically they were always overperforming given that Sri Lanka has both a small-ish population and not a lot of money.

Based on what I understand SL domestic cricket is based around Colombo - one city. So rest of the country doesn't get access to facilities and infrastructure. So it's already limited talent pool is even more narrow because of the inefficient system. Might take a long time for them to fix it's structural issues and get competitive again. Rest of international cricket has moved on at a fast pace and SL is struggling to cope with having enough talent pool to put together teams for all 3 formats. SL is pretty much playing the same core group of players in all 3 formats due to lack of resources.

 

[Flem274*]

going to give some rare credit to the english bowling attack tbh. people are seriously downplaying the sri lankan batting. mathews and chandimal in particular are no joke with 40+ averages and good knocks overseas to their credit, and karunaratne will return. dickwella is fine for a keeper bat.

major change id make is finding space for the sri lankan craig mcmillan lower or not at all because he's no opener. thirimanne 'coming good' is funny but im skeptical of how long it will last.

no need for d00m and gl00m on sri lankas finances either. not sure how covid will affect them but the lifestyle of your average sri lankan has improved drastically in recent decades. if 1990s sri lanka can succeed then 2020s sri lanka can.

what they desperately need is chaminda vaas 2.0.

 

[Pup Clarke]

England bowling is top class. World class fast bowlers, reasonably good spin bowling. Batting is a bit thin I'd think. Lots of big names in the batting lineup but some of those under perform.

I don't think England's fast bowling attack is quite that good personally. In certain conditions absolutely, but they aren't that versatile currently and haven't proved themselves in foreign conditions. Remember in NZ just over 12 months ago? They look completely befuddled

This upcoming series against India will be a huge barometer to where they are at . We all know how good Anderson/Broad are, but if Archer/Wood/Woakes/Stone don't step up they'll be chasing alot of leather imo

NZ's bowling attack is so much better than England's. To have 4 guys who compliment each other so well and present different challenges to the batsman is gold.