Big picture
If format in South Asian conditions is hard to identify ahead of this series, with so little test cricket played here in the past year, Sri Lanka is throwing predictions further conflict with the injury and the back injury. A day out from the first Test, (there is still time to be injured), Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal are likely to be in top order. But while batsman Oshada Fernando, and fast bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara have technically recovered from their injuries, they may not be ready enough to make the XI.
Sri Lanka lost both tests against South Africa by a large margin, so under normal circumstances you would expect them to turn down with confidence. Still, they don’t seem to be killing themselves about those losses. At the end of that series, captain Dimuth Karunaratne was largely of the opinion that when you have so many casualties that Sri Lanka suffered on that tour, a loss like those was about to happen. Yes. Tomorrow is a new day. This – their first at home since August 2019 – is a new series.
Although they are tourists, England may have been better prepared, however. They have been in the country for a longer time (Sri Lanka only arrived on 8 January from South Africa, England had arrived six days earlier). But in the age of quarantine and biomass, advanced prep means only so much. For three of their days on the island, England players could not leave their rooms. When the training started, they couldn’t play a round game or two as usual, so they tried two days inside a squad, just to get one of those days out.
But other than that, they miss some of the players who led them to the 3-0 win on their 2018 tour. Mount Stokes is resting. Adil Rashid was not selected in the squad. Moeen Ali may have been going to play, but he got a contract from Covid-19 and can’t. And despite being Player of the Series in that whitewash, Ben Foakes has been replaced by goalkeeper by Jos Buttler.
So here are two sides with a big and invisible defect (yes, we say that about England now as well), which is getting a remarkable situation with this pandemic. The England-Sri Lanka series has produced a unique cricket in this century (the two series nonetheless, perhaps). Since there are no clear options here, there’s no reason this one can’t be a thrush either.
Form instructions
(completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: : LLDWL
England: DDWWW
Players to watch
Angelo Mathews he played the innings of his life against England (his 160 at Headingley), as well as a whopping hundred and fifty, so it is certain that the Sri Lankan baton will command the greatest respect among the English attack. . And yet, in the years since that incredible Leeds, Mathews has not been a particularly consistent batsman. In the last three of five years, he has averaged less than 30. While he seemed to be destined to be a 10,000 batsman, that is no longer proof. Much of his inconsistency is due to the injury that has kept him out for months at a time over the past few years, and he returns again from a hamstring strain. After falling down early last year, Mathews seems to have been motivated to make the final years of his career. If he has a good streak with the bat (he doesn’t bowl), Sri Lanka will go a distance to win.
Jos Buttler just 33.93 average with the bat, but it’s his batting that keeps Foakes (who is at least 41.50 average but hasn’t played Test in nearly two years) out of the XI. The theory is that Buttler, such a limited batting batsman, and one who can put a team up and running when the feeling comes up, will see long-term improvements in the batting result. his at last. Late in the summer in England, he gave a glimpse of the player he could be, hitting 67, 75 and 152 in place of three innings. While on that form he is ordering a place in the batting order, it is with the gloves that he can be proven mostly in Sri Lanka. The spinners seem to have to bowl most of the overs in this series. It’s unfair to expect it to be as magisterial as Foakes was in 2018, but can it be good?
Park and conditions
Galle fields are generally good for going on the first two days, before they change abruptly – and almost violently – to rainbows from day three onwards. This time, there are two reasons why the Galle route could stay good for batting longer than usual. First, because the place is to hold both tests, they can’t afford to start the square too dry. Second, with Sri Lanka just returned from South Africa, where they played on the fastest pitches in that country, guests are likely to want a fairer route than a hard-hitting study with spinning.
There’s also a bit of rain, because even though it’s January (usually one of the driest months in the southwest), these things tend to happen when a cricket trip begins. Despite the rain, however, Sri Lanka has not seen a draw on its captors since 2014.
Team news
Will Sri Lanka play Kusal Mendis, who has collected three ducks in a row in South Africa? He is in dead heat for the No. 3 spot with Lahiru Thirimanne. Sri Lanka are hoping that Suranga Lakmal can make the XI, but if he does not do that it is likely that Vishwa Fernando will play.
Sri Lanka (probably): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt.), 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis / Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Dilruwan Perera, 10 Lasith Embuldeniya 10 Suranga Lakmal / Vishwa Fernando
England have decisions to make regarding bowling. They are likely to enter with two front kicks, with Mark Wood and one of James Anderson or Stuart Broad alongside ranger Sam Curran. Bat bat Dan Lawrence looks ready for the first time.
England (probably) 1 Dom Sibley, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Jonny Bairstow, 4 Joe Root (capt.), 5 Dan Lawrence, 6 Jos Buttler 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Jack Leach 10 Mark Wood 11 James Anderson / Stuart Broad
Stats and trivia
- Each of the last 26 Tests in Sri Lanka has yielded results. The home team has won 14 of those.
- Buttler ‘s Sri Lanka record is better than his overall record. He had 250 runs in the country on the previous round, at a strike rate of 72. He crossed fifty-two times and was unbeaten for less than 16.
- Angelo Mathews needs 19 more to get to 6000 test runs. He was Sri Lanka’s fifth batsman to that milestone, after Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva.
- Even since the turn of the century, England have won six games in Sri Lanka and lost just four.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a Sri Lankan journalist at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf