England tour of Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka versus England 2012

1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Galle
Mar 26-30, 2012 (10:00 local | 04:30 GMT | 09:30 PKT)

2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (PSS)
Apr 3-7, 2012 (10:00 local | 04:30 GMT | 09:30 PKT)

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Swann over was decisive - Jayawardene

Mahela Jayawardene was left to rue missing the opportunity for Sri Lanka's first Test series victory since 2009 and believes if they had survived Graeme Swann's last over on the fourth evening they would have saved the match.

The complexion of the game was changed by Swann who claimed two wickets in the penultimate over to leave the home side with a huge task on the final day. A couple of early dropped catches by Alastair Cook suggested it would be a frustrating time for England, but when Jayawardene received one that spat from Swann this time the catch was taken and Sri Lanka's main hope had gone.

"On a fourth-day wicket that will happen, especially against the second new ball and we knew Graeme would get more bite with it," Jayawardene said. "It was a period we had to survive and if we'd got through the situation I think we would have batted through two more sessions and the game would have been different but that's the quality Swann has.

"Graeme is one of the best offspinners I've faced and he's got variety. We knew going into the series that he would be the challenge. Him and Jimmy Anderson are the two main bowlers that will bowl well in any conditions, which proved the case. We handled them well on some occasions but when you are up against two quality bowlers they will strike as well."

Although those late losses on the fourth evening knocked the stuffing out of Sri Lanka, Jayawardene pinpointed the first two days as the key period of the game. Having won what was expected to be an important toss Sri Lanka could only post 275 and England's top three set a platform from where Kevin Pietersen was able to take the game away from them with a destructive 151 on the third day.

"Before the game started I said the first innings is a very important part, especially in the subcontinent where you need to take advantage up front to put the opposition under pressure," Jayawardene said. "We didn't do that, but credit to the England bowlers who did really well on the first day. I thought 350-375 would have been a good score and the difference was that towards the end. We were playing against a strong team. I thought KP came and changed the game with the way he batted. He took some risks and it paid off."

Jayawardene also stood out with the bat and was named Man of the Series for his 354 runs at 88.50, includeding two centuries. "Over the previous two overseas tours I hadn't been consistent so I had to improve," Jayawardene said of his own performance. "In Australia my one-day form was pretty good and I was able to continue with that. I felt in Test cricket I went too negative, going into my shell but in Galle I came out of that very quickly. Even though at times it looked slow I was in control. I'm doing a lot of things right but the next tour will be a different challenge."

With a little more support the outcome could have been different for Sri Lanka. Kumar Sangakkara's struggles left a big hole in their run-scoring capability although Angelo Mathews suggested during the second Test that he can forge a career as a specialist batsman. Overall, however, Jayawardene was content with his team's performance and the fact they shared a series against the No. 1 Test side. The game in Sri Lanka faces a number of difficulties - not least financial - but following on from their impressive showing in the one-day tournament in Australia, where they almost claimed the title, there were signs that their longer game can develop.

"Good players will step up and that's what England have got. But I'm quite happy, we kept fighting and gave ourselves a chance," he said. "Going forward we can develop the youngsters so as long as the commitment levels are there I'm quite happy. It was a good indication of where we are right now, especially in our conditions. We played against very good opposition and that gave us the chance to challenge ourselves."

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Lessons learned ahead of India tour - Strauss

Lessons learned ahead of India tour - Strauss

For the first time at a post-match presentation this year Andrew Strauss wore a broad grin as England ended a run of four straight Test defeats with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory.

It was enough for them to retain the No. 1 ranking, but for Strauss the most important aspect was to have seen his side emerge from a difficult period with important lessons learned.

Having fallen apart against spin in the preceding four matches England's top-order finally offered the team's outstanding bowling attack support for their efforts. Strauss is confident that the batsmen have made significant strides in playing in subcontinental conditions, which they will encounter again at the end of the year in India.

"We've been seeing in the nets for a while the guys have been forced to re-look at their games," he said. "It's easy to say we're experienced cricketers and we should have known it earlier but I do think to a certain extent DRS has changed things and we've had to look at our techniques, and I think we've come through that. Everyone looks better now than they did at the start of the winter.

"It's always a shame when you've got to be handed a few defeats to make sure you really do look at it. We're excited. India's still a long way off, but we've got some good lessons we can put in the bank. Now we've got to get back to England and remember how to play swing and seam bowling."

Graeme Swann was the matchwinner over the last couple of days as he secured career-best match figures of 10 for 181, his second ten-wicket haul in Tests, to follow Kevin Pietersen's scintillating 151 as he threw off the shackles.

"I thought James Anderson wasn't really rewarded for his bowling, he bowled outstandingly well," Strauss said. "Graeme Swann showed his value to the side once again, creating trouble all the way through. And Kevin in particular took the game away from the opposition in the way only he can. It's always pretty demoralising for the opposition to see KP in full flight. It was an outstanding innings and it gave us the impetus and momentum we needed to win the game.

"I think we were all under a bit pressure coming into this game to make sure we showed we'd learned some of the lessons from our defeats over the last four Test matches. It looked like an easy victory but we knew that out in the middle it was very, very hard to prise out wickets and at times it was hard to score runs as well. I saw a steely determination on everyone's part to make sure we finished the winter on a high and it was fantastic to be able to do that."

The lowest moment of England's recent run came in the second-innings run chase against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi as they crumbled to 72 chasing 145. When Strauss fell in the first over of this pursuit, bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck, it may have opened old wounds but England powered their way to the target.

"They're horrible chases because everyone expects you to win, it's almost like trying to sink a three-foot putt - you know it should go in but it doesn't always," he said. "We were determined to make sure we didn't make the same mistakes as we did in Abu Dhabi; determined to be a bit more proactive about things and Cooky and KP today did that exceptionally well."

Like his counterpart Mahela Jayawardene, Strauss acknowledged the importance of Swann's double-wicket over in the dying moments of the fourth day that gave England a much more favourable chance to wrapping up the victory. "The guys were knackered," he said. "It was a long day and they raised the intensity and the tempo over those ten overs. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve but on that occasion we did."

Strauss, though, was not getting carried by a single success and a shared series. There remain issues against good spin bowling - Rangana Herath took 19 wickets in the two matches - and the first-innings total of 460 was the only time the batting order clicked in either the UAE or Sri Lanka.

"I don't think any of us are the finished article, you never are in cricket," he said. "Questions are asked, you find an answer and another question is asked. It's been a hard tour, conditions are tough, we're very pleased and proud to have got something out of this series but we move on as you always do in international cricket."

[Sadaf Gondal]

eng jeet gaya

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eng jeet gaya

Yup. I thought Sri Lanka was a better team.

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Flower urges batsmen to prove their worth

Andy Flower, the England team director, is keen to ensure lessons learned on the team's recent overseas tours are not limited to the senior squad, and instead get passed down the chain to younger players. Flower was boosted by the strides made by the batsmen in Sri Lanka as they fought back to level the series with a convincing eight-wicket win in Colombo following the whitewash against Pakistan in the UAE.

The success was set up by Kevin Pietersen's barnstorming 151 but Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss all played important innings. But the revival was started by Trott in the second innings in Galle when his 112, although not able to prevent defeat, showed how batsmen can succeed by playing to their strengths.

England's other representative sides - the Lions and Under-19 team - also toured Asia over the last six months with mixed results. The Lions lost in Bangladesh but won in Sri Lanka, while the Under-19s were beaten 5-2 in a one-day series in Bangladesh. Flower wants all levels of the professional game to work together to improve England's cricket in these conditions.

"It is our job, not only to embed all those lessons but also to continue building on want we've learnt," Flower said. "We also need to pass on those lessons to younger English cricketers so that when they are playing international cricket they don't make the same mistakes as ours did this winter. I think that's quite important.

"It has been a tough winter but our focus has never wavered, our determination has never wavered and I think you would probably have see that best in the field. I think that was a good indication of where the group was. Yes it's been tough but it's brilliant to come back and level the series. It's a real pity that it's not a three-Test series - both Tests were excellent matches played on good pitches."

England almost left it too late to put in a complete batting performance and while Flower acknowledged it was a lengthy phase of trial and error, the end result has left him very hopeful of what can be achieved in the future.

"We all want instant results but the world doesn't work as easily as that but I do think it's exciting watching excellent cricketers still have the capacity to learn and improve themselves," he said. "I think good sides and good players have that capacity and are humble enough to open themselves up to new learning experiences. And I think we did see evidence of our guys learning in the second dig in Galle and out here."

Eoin Morgan was the one batsman to pay with his place after the Pakistan series and there will be focus on Ian Bell and Strauss when England resume action against West Indies in May. Bell has had a poor few months with just one half-century, in the first innings in Galle, to show as reward and his dismissal in Colombo - pulling a long hop to midwicket - was an inglorious way to finish.

Strauss, meanwhile, struck an important 61 to lay the foundation alongside Cook in Colombo but has now one Test hundred in 50 innings. From within the team there remains no doubt over his position - something reiterated by Flower - yet he could still do with a productive summer against West Indies and South Africa. Bell, too, will not be dropped although will need to convince the selectors that he has the game to succeed in India next winter with Flower insisting no one is immune to scrutiny.

Heading into the home season, No. 6 is the likely spot up for grabs if England revert to their regular balance of six batsmen, a keeper, three quicks and a spinner. Ravi Bopara was the spare batsman on the two recent tours after picking up a side strain in Sri Lanka and being overlooked for Samit Patel.

"Not one player owns a position in the batting order," Flower said. "There's competition for all places. Of course some are more secure than others but I don't want to comment who'll bat at six against the West Indies as I need to talk to the selectors. We'll be having a selection meeting later this month and that's when we'll be discussing it in greater detail."

Neither would Flower be drawn on whether he thought the top six that played in Sri Lanka was the ideal combination for India at the end of the year. "I think it's a little early to say that this batting unit will be there at the end of the year, we don't know how things are going to pan out," he said. "Yes, this batting unit is good enough to score heavy runs in India but part of our job is to ensure it isn't a closed shop and if there are other players in England, we want them pushing the top seven here, constantly. That will drive our standards upwards."

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Flower concerned by Broad's fitness

Andy Flower, the England team director, has said that Stuart Broad's recurring injury problems are a worry. However he is resigned to Broad linking up with the IPL if he recovers from the calf strain that ruled him out of the second Test against Sri Lanka and has admitted the event is a "tricky" subject.

It was the latest in a list of injuries for Broad over the last 18 months, starting with the stomach muscle strain that ruled him out of three Ashes Tests in Australia before a rib injury curtailed his World Cup campaign. Towards the end of the English season he then damaged his shoulder and missed the end of the India home series and Twenty20 matches against West Indies, plus the return contest in India during October which meant Graeme Swann was required as a stand-in T20 captain.

"It is a concern," Flower said. "He's one of the leaders in our attack and our T20 captain as well. But he'll be working hard to get back in readiness for the West Indies series."

Broad's workload is one of the highest among the England squad with him playing all three formats but he has a contract with Kings XI Punjab which Flower knows he will need to honour if his calf recovers. If he does join up with the tournament he will return home to play one County Championship match, against Middle+++, before the first Test against West Indies at Lord's on May 17. He was due to meet the ECB medical staff on Monday to assess his progress.

"The IPL is a tricky subject and a tricky time in the cricketing calendar, and I don't think there's a perfect answer there," Flower said. "My priority now is getting the guys ready for the West Indies series.

"He's contracted to his IPL side so if he's fit he'll go and play IPL and come back and play that first-class game prior to the West Indies series, as planned. If he's not fit enough to do that, and calf injuries can take a bit longer than some of the other muscle groups, he won't go."

Any England centrally contracted player who appears in the IPL - so that also includes Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan - are monitored by the ECB's medical staff who keep in touch with the franchises to ensure any predefined programmes are adhered to and how any niggles are treated.

Playing the IPL would mean no significant rest period for Broad until at least after the World Twenty20 were he will be captain and even then it will be short as the team are due to start a four-Test series in India in November. However, on the flip side the tournament could be a useful chance to expand his game ahead of the World Twenty20 in September where England will defend their title. Broad also missed last year's IPL due to the rib injury he picked up at the World Cup.