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Bresnan ruled out of Test series

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Tim Bresnan, the England pace-bowling allrounder, has been ruled out of the Test series against Pakistan after failing to recover from the elbow surgery he underwent before Christmas. The news has come as a major surprise to the England camp even though Bresnan sat out the first warm-up match.He travelled with the squad to the UAE last week but was not able to play against a ICC Combined XI and at the end of the match the decision was taken to send him home. His absence is a significant blow for England as he is able to get the ball to reverse-swing, which is set to be a key weapon in the Test series, and also adds to the team’s formidable lower-order strength.”Bresnan tried to bowl today, having had an injection and a good rest,” Andrew Strauss, the England captain, said. “I think we were all expecting him to be absolutely fine. But it’s very painful – and given that, he’s probably not going to be able to play for two or three weeks.”England have won the 10 Tests that Bresnan has played. Having played a key part in the Ashes series he missed the start of the last English season with a calf problem. He initially suffered the injury in the one-day series in Australia before a recurrence during a Championship match against Hampshire. He returned to the side after Chris Tremlett was injured against India. During his comeback match at Trent Bridge he hit 90 and took 5 for 48 . He went on to take nine more wickets in the series against India and score another half-century.”I’m obviously gutted not to have an opportunity to play in the Test series,” Bresnan said, “but I knew that looking at my rehabilitation programme it was always going to be touch and go to get me ready for the series. I want to wish the squad all very best and the priority for me now is to get myself ready for the one-day series in February.”Graham Onions travelled with the team to the UAE as a reserve member of the squad and has now been elevated to a permanent member. Steven Finn, who played against the ICC XI, will be the favourite to replace Bresnan in the Test line up.Meanwhile, Graeme Swann, the England offspinner, did not field on the final morning of the match against the ICC XI after reporting some muscle soreness in his leg and will be sent for a scan, while Tremlett has been suffering from an eye infection during the early days of the tour and will visit a doctor.Matt Prior, the Test wicketkeeper, missed the ICC XI match with a bruised finger but Strauss confirmed he will be able to play the second warm-up game on Wednesday.

Kartik gets five in Railways' first victory

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Group A

Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik picked up his second five-for of the season to help Railways to an incredible victory by an innings and 94 runs with a day to spare against Uttar Pradesh at the Mohan Meakins Cricket Stadium in Ghaziabad. Having been dismissed for 79, the eighth-lowest total in Ranji history, UP put up more of a fight the second time around, but lost wickets at regular intervals.Sanjay Bangar and Krishnakant Upadyay, Railways’ new-ball bowlers responsible for Uttar Pradesh’s downfall in the first innings, got rid of overnight pair of Bhuvenesh Kumar and Mohammad Kaif before lunch. Kartik, who had bowled just one over in the previous innings, overwhelmed the lower order, picking five of the last six wickets to fall and seal Railways’ first victory of the season. For Uttar Pradesh this was the second time in two years they were beaten at home. If last year it was Haryana, this time Railways enjoyed a hearty laugh at the expense of their hosts.Railways had suffered two huge defeats at the start of the season, but now with this win they have ten points in the bag and will be positive about their knockout chances with two home games against Orissa and Saurashtra. In contrast Uttar Pradesh play favourites Mumbai and Karnataka in the next two rounds. “We did not bat well at all. Now we have our backs to the wall,” Gynanedra Pandey, UP coach, said of his team’s predicament.Saurashtra achieved the enviable honour of inflicting the follow-on for the second time in three years against Mumbai, who finished 220 runs short of their opponent’s first-innings target on the penultimate day. Full report here.An unbroken 185-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Robin Bist and Rashmi Parida kept Rajasthan‘s hopes alive against Punjab. At stumps on the penultimate day the defending champions were 321 for 4 in pursuit of 597 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. They still need another 126 runs to avoid the follow-on and 276 to take the lead.The hosts started the day on a steady note as their most experienced batting pair of Aakash Chopra and Hrishikesh Kanitkar played patiently in the first hour. But immediately after the drinks break Chopra was cleaned up by Birender Sran. At 136 for 4, Rajasthan were in deep trouble but Bist and Parida combined well to quell Punjab’s determined bowling attack, which missed Manpreet Gony, who sat out after bowling 11 overs due to a side strain.The match between Karnataka and Orissa at the East Coast Railway Sports Association in Bhubaneshwar is set for an interesting final day after the visitors finished the third 192 runs ahead with four wickets remaining.Karnataka threatened to pull away at 80 for 1 in their second innings, after taking a 23-run first-innings lead, but diligent bowling on a helpful pitch by Orissa’s bowling attack had the visitors wobbling at 114 for 5. But Amit Verma, who already has a century this season in Mumbai, dug in deep and found support from Sunil Raju, to take Karnataka to 169 for 6. At the start of play Orissa needed 67 runs to take the lead and the eighth-wicket pair of Govind Podder and Basanth Mohanty gave Karnataka pair a scare with a stoic 30-run alliance. But Stuart Binny cleaned up Podder as Orissa eventually managed to add 44 runs to their overnight score of 211 for 7. Binny picked up two wickets on the day, enough to bag his maiden five-for (5-87).

Group B

Ambati Rayudu’s second hundred of the season helped Baroda set Gujarat a daunting target of 365 to win on the last day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.Baroda had ended the second day 43 runs ahead with the match still in the balance. But they took control on the third, thanks to Rayudu’s 105 that helped them 330 in their second innings. Rayudu had to deal with losing partners at fairly regular intervals – the highest partnership of the innings was 77 for the sixth wicket – but kept playing his strokes, maintaining a strike-rate of 77.20 in an innings that contained 18 fours and a six. Gujarat had an opening at 174 for 5, but Shatrunjay Gaekwad and Abhimanyu Chauhan chipped in with 30s to take the match to a position where Baroda look the only likely winners.Six wickets in the day from seamer Yo Mahesh left Tamil Nadu needing six wickets to beat Bengal, who were still 52 runs behind at Eden Gardens. Mahesh took four in Bengal’s first innings, in which they were bowled out for 176 and made to follow-on. He then struck twice early in Bengal’s second innings, sending back both openers. A counterattacking unbeaten half-century from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, his second of the match, gave Bengal some hope but they will have a tough fight on their hands on the final day.Bengal had a horrific start to the day: they slipped from 84 for 2 to 87 for 5 within the first six overs, all three wickets falling to Mahesh. Shukla tried to get Bengal back in the game and hit eight fours and two sixes in his 62 off 59 balls. But wickets kept tumbling at the other end, and Bengal conceded a 215-run first-innings lead.Their second innings was rocked early: they slipped to 8 for 2 before a 64-run stand for the third wicket between Shreevats Goswami and Writam Porel steadied them briefly. The pair was dismissed in quick succession and Bengal were in danger of losing by an innings. Shukla, though, produced his second half-century of the match, reaching 50 not out off 55 balls by stumps. For company, he had Sourav Ganguly, who had taken a more measured approach on the way to 28 not out off 68 balls.A century from Naman Ojha has made Madhya Pradesh favourites to beat Delhi at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore, though three wickets late in the day set up a tense finish. MP needed 59 runs more to snatch a victory with five wickets in hand.It had looked like MP would cruise to the total when Ojha and Devendra Bundela took them to 187 for 2 with a 186-run partnership. However, seamer Rajat Bhatia kept Delhi in the game with three strikes that left MP 240 for 5 at stumps. Ojha and Bundela’s stand came after two wickets had fallen off consecutive balls in the second over of MP’s chase, bowled by Parvinder Awana. Ojha was the aggressor, striking at 72.29 and hitting four sixes in his 107, while Bundela was more patient while scoring 68. Ojha was lucky to get away when on 13, 82 and 96, as Delhi fielded sloppily all through.

Namibia make it two out of two

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Namibia captain Sarel Burger ensured his side made it two wins out of two over Kenya at the Windhoek High School. Having opted to bat first, Kenya put on a much improved batting display, led by Collins Obuya, to post 170 for 5. But Burger provided the finishing kick to Nambia’s innings to take his side home with five wickets and three balls to spare.Kenya lost opener Alex Obanda in the third over but Obuya was in a determined mood, smashing five sixes and three fours in a 53-ball 79. He was well supported by Ragheb Aga, who made 45 from 32, as the pair added 112 for the fourth wicket at 9.60 runs an over. Both men lost their wickets in the final over, but had done enough to see their side to a competitive total.Louis van der Westhuizen and Raymond van Schoor gave the hosts an explosive start, racing to 57 from 5.2 overs before Westhuizen holed out off the bowling of left-arm spinner Hiren Varaiya, having made 27 from 13 balls. Van Schoor and Gerrie Snyman kept the scoreboard moving faster than the required rate, but Snyman’s wicket with the score on 90 prompted a mini-collapse as Namibia lost 4 wickets for 31 runs. Having played the anchor role in the last game, Burger turned into the finisher this time, looting a quick 32 from 20 balls and sharing in a 50-run partnership with Gerhard Erasmus that took their side to victory.

Lawson, Qadir to be character witnesses for Butt

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Former Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, trainer David Dwyer and legspinner Abdul Qadir will be called as character witnesses in the alleged spot-fixing trial of Salman Butt.Their witness accounts will be read from a statement. Butt was an opening batsman under Lawson’s tenure in 2007-08, while Dwyer worked with Butt for a number of years in his capacity as Pakistan’s strength and conditioning coach. Qadir, who hails from Lahore as Butt does, had a son who allegedly worked for agent Mazhar Majeed. Statements from family members will also be heard.They will be read to the jury once the prosecution has completed its cross examination of Butt, which will resume on Wednesday morning.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test last year when they allegedly conspired with agent Majeed, fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

Swann backs England to maintain drive

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On a sunny Manchester morning, out near Old Trafford, Graeme Swann arrived wearing dark glasses. He stayed that way for a few hours, not because the area around the Trafford Sports Barn had suddenly turned tropical, but because England had celebrated their Twenty20 International victory over India a little too enthusiastically.Swann, one of two star names at the formal launch of Streetchance, a nationwide inner-city cricket programme, may need a day to bounce back towards his usually high degrees of cheeriness, but he assured anyone listening that the England team was quite ready to launch the next phase of their ambitions.The five-match ODI series versus India begins in Durham on Saturday, and Swann said that it would be a searching examination of England’s new-found status after their 4-0 Test victory and No.1 Test ranking. “It is a great test for us – hopefully the conditions will suit us and we can pull off a victory. It’s where we want to go in one-day cricket, we want to be an improving team and it’s a good chance to start,” the sunglassed Swann said, speaking to a handful of reporters in an indoor basketball court.England’s ascent to the world No.1 Test ranking has not been matched by a similar surge through the ICC ODI rankings. Amongst the ten Test-playing nations, England are ranked a mid-table No.5. A series victory over the current world champions India will ensure that England can both establish credentials as a more-than-competitive limited-overs team, and also ensure that they snap out of the habit of following triumphant Test series with tepid ODI performances.England’s last two Ashes victories, 2-1 at home in 2009 and 3-1 away last winter, were followed by identical 1-6 defeats in the two seven-match ODI series that followed. Victory in the ICC World T20 last year was England’s first in a multi-national ICC event, after having made three of the first five World Cup finals. Swann said that the record of successful Test series tapering off into poor ODI form “was an area we need to really watch; it can often be a bit of a damp squib after a Test series and hopefully it will be a positive rather than negative end to the summer… it’s not something we have discussed amongst us until now, but I’m sure we will soon. The summer has gone great for us; we are hoping to carry that on in the one-day series. It’s a better feeling to be winning rather than losing.”When asked what England’s ODI bug-bears of the past had been, Swann said, “I dunno… we’ve missed a certain X-factor in players but I think we’re getting that now in Jake Dernbach and Eoin Morgan… we’re starting to find those real match-winners with bat and ball.”Over the past week, Dernbach and Morgan have played key roles in England’s ODI victory over Ireland and the T20I vs India in Manchester. The win over India on Wednesday night, he said, had come against “a world-class team. We are going to have to be at our absolute best to beat them and we are confident at the moment; that Twenty20 win last night has done no harm for our confidence at all.”There is much rumbling about India’s performances on this tour (not least from Michael Vaughan, who predicted via Twitter a 4-1 victory for England in the ODIs) and the Twenty20 defeat came from a wobbling middle-order that couldn’t score enough, despite the presence of some of India’s younger and fresher batsmen.Before he left the Manchester media, Swann was asked a few questions about local cricket and football. His preferences ran thus: City over United in football, (“I’d rather see City do it, to be honest, even if they’ve got gazilloons of dollars to spend, whatever”) and Lancashire to win the county championship – both for the sake of history and for the sake of his former England coach Peter Moores, the man who recalled him to the fold after a seven-year international hiatus in 2007. “I wish Moorsey all the best for Lancashire and I hope they can win it for him,” he said, shortly before they were routed by Worcestershire inside a day-and-a-half at New Road.At the start of the event, Swann had been called onto stage by MC Mark Nicholas as the “representative of modern England” and took off his sun-glasses for a short instant, before revealing that he had been called Grandad on the field by the rest of the T20 squad. He is one of two players over the age of 30 in the Twenty20 team and the audience of officials, coaches, bankers, police officers, community workers, and young cricketers from six inner-city teams laughed as Swann said ruefully, “When they take their tops off, you can see they’ve barely started puberty.”Graeme Swann was speaking at the launch of ‘StreetChance supported by Barclays Spaces for Sports’ – a cricket initiative that aims to tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour. See Streetchance.org for details

Solid Sangakkara fights for Sri Lanka

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara made a fighting half-century•Associated Press

Australia’s chances of victory faded with the light around Pallekele on the fourth afternoon, as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene settled in on a pitch offering little for the bowlers. On a day that began with a pre-play declaration from Michael Clarke, when Australia led by 237, the Sri Lanka batsmen put up their firmest resistance of the series, and went to stumps with a deficit of just 14.Most importantly, they also had eight wickets in hand when bad light forced another early finish in a match dogged by rain and gloom. It meant that Australia needed a string of wickets on the fifth morning to give themselves a chance of taking a 2-0 series lead, while Sri Lanka’s goal was to overtake Australia and bat themselves into an unbeatable position.They could hardly have had two better men at the crease. Sangakkara and Jayawardene hold the record for the highest partnership in Test history, a phenomenal 624 set in Colombo against South Africa five years ago. A double-century stand would just about be enough for Sri Lanka in this game, and they had made a fine start, their 95-run partnership taking the total to 223 for 2.Sangakkara was on 69 and Jayawardene had 38, and both had played sensibly, with their first object crease occupation and runs their secondary goal. Their only real moment of danger came when Jayawardene swept the offspinner Nathan Lyon and his top-edge lobbed just out of the reach of Brad Haddin and Clarke, who ran from slip to leg slip to try a diving take.Otherwise, Australia barely got the sniff of a wicket during the partnership. Sangakkara brought up his half-century with a clip off his pads for a boundary off Mitchell Johnson, from his 128th delivery. He struck eight boundaries, generally waiting for the bad balls, like when he pulled consecutive boundaries off Clarke’s long-hops, but he also drove well against Ryan Harris.It was real Test cricket, a test for the fielding side as well as the batsmen. Clarke juggled his bowlers and generally the results were the same, except for another inspired introduction of Michael Hussey, who had broken through in his first over in the first innings. Hussey entered the match with two Test wickets, and has doubled that tally, after again picking up a wicket as soon as he was used in the second innings.He came on for the last over before a drinks break, and his right-arm partnership breakers accounted for Tharanga Paranavitana, who had showed impressive resolve in his 55. It was a strange dismissal; the batsman drove at the ball outside off and Brad Haddin, keeping up to the stumps, was vociferous in his appeal for caught-behind, although Hussey was barely interested.The umpire Tony Hill was unmoved, but so convinced was Haddin that Clarke asked for a review, and the third official Shavir Tarapore overturned the not-out decision. There was a faint noise as the ball passed the bat, but there was no obvious movement off the bat, and Paranavitana could have considered himself unlucky not to be given the benefit of the doubt.He had already survived a confident caught-behind review on 26 when the Australia players felt certain he had gloved the ball down the leg side off Mitchell Johnson. Replays suggested the ball may have brushed the glove, but on that occasion Tarapore did give Paranavitana the benefit of the doubt. It was one of a few nervy moments for the Sri Lanka openers in the first session as they almost made their way through to lunch unscathed, stumbling just before the break when Tillakaratne Dilshan departed for 36.The breakthrough came after the players returned to the field for a ten-minute period before lunch, after a short rain delay, and the break might have affected Dilshan’s concentration. He flashed at a Ryan Harris delivery and was caught at first slip by Shane Watson, not a surprising dismissal after two earlier edges from Dilshan off Watson fell short of men in the cordon.It ended the opening partnership at 81, a vast improvement on Sri Lanka’s first-wicket stands so far in the series: 4 and 0 in Galle and 2 in the first innings of this game. Dilshan drove well when the fast men bowled too full, while Paranavitana played some punchy drives down the ground and through cover, after he played and missed quite a few times against the new ball.Australia could also have had Paranavitana run out, but a terrible throw from Phillip Hughes at midwicket wasted the opportunity, with the batsman struggling to make his ground at the striker’s end. Australia knew they had to take their chances in the field with the possibility that bad weather would stand in their way as they aimed to take a 2-0 series lead.The time lost to rain and bad light, and the potential for further breaks, was the main reason Clarke declared overnight, with Australia at 411 for 7. He’ll be hoping for a perfect day on Monday, but even that won’t be enough for Australia if Sangakkara and Jayawardene keep up their fighting attitude.

UAE complete comprehensive win

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Scorecard
United Arab Emirates bowled Kenya out for 167 in their second innings to register a comprehensive 266-run win at Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi and complete their turnaround after conceding a first-innings lead in their Intercontinental Cup match.Kenya began the day on 76 for 4 chasing 433 but victory was never a realistic option for the hosts, who lasted just 36.1 overs on the final day. New captain Collins Obuya made a determined 63 but he received little support, with only Ramesh Mepani, who managed 37 before being run out, going past 20.UAE struck in the second over of the day to remove Mansukh Jasani for a duck before Obuya and Mepani eked out a 37-run stand that was the second highest of the innings, highlighting their failure to build partnerships. Obuya’s fall with the score on 125 effectively ended Kenya’s chances of saving the game, and the last four wickets fell for 42 runs.The wickets were shared between five bowlers, with Mohammad Tauqir, Amjad Javed and Shoaib Sarwar picking up two each.

Dhoni the key, says Swann

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England won’t be focussing all their efforts on Sachin Tendulkar during the first Test at Lord’s, being fully aware that India have a host of batsmen capable of match-winning innings, and Graeme Swann has suggested that it’s MS Dhoni whom they need to keep under pressure rather than the player with 99 international hundreds.Much of the build-up to the opening match of a highly-anticipated series between the No. 1 team in the world and the side that can overtake them with a two-Test winning margin, has focussed on Tendulkar’s quest for a century of centuries. If that happens at Lord’s it would also be Tendulkar’s first at the home of cricket. Like Lara before him, it’s a rare honour to have eluded him so far. But, perhaps because of Tendulkar’s record at Lord’s, or perhaps to play down some of the expectation, Swann insisted England wouldn’t take their eye off the bigger picture.”It would be very, very risky to focus all our energies on Sachin Tendulkar,” he said. “Sure, he’s the best player in the modern generation but they’ve got so many other good players, and if we focus all our energies on just one guy, there’s going to be someone else sneaking in the back door.”MS Dhoni is possibly the most charismatic Indian player they have ever had, and you only have to be in India to realise the sway he holds in that country now,” he added. “He’s probably a more important member of the team right now than any other player, because he leads from the front and is a very dangerous cricketer. If we can get at anyone, he’s probably the key man.”Tim Bresnan, who is expected to miss out on England’s final XI, took a typically down-to-earth view of bowling to Tendulkar, remembering what he confronted during the World Cup when Tendulkar scored 120. “If you could bowl to him in Bangalore, you could bowl to him anywhere else,” he said, before briefly remembering Tendulkar’s stint at Yorkshire in 1992. “I caught up with him a couple of years ago and he said he really enjoyed his time at Yorkshire. He’s kind of an adopted Yorkie – but he’s still a decent scalp if I get him out.”England’s success against Tendulkar, when it has come, has often been from full deliveries that have found him trapped on the crease, especially early in an innings. James Anderson and Matthew Hoggard, swing bowlers who pitch the ball up, have removed him on eight occasions in all (Chris Lewis sits between that pair as the second most successful England bowler against Tendulkar), although they have also attempted periods of short-pitched bowling.Chris Tremlett, who made his debut against India on this ground in 2007, is hoping for the chance to test out all the India batsmen with some short bowling. “That’s the aggressive side to fast bowling,” he said. “The Rose Bowl [against Sri Lanka] was a satisfying wicket to bowl on, getting guys jumping around. Those types of wickets, like the ones in Australia, are the best cricket wickets when the ball comes through and the tall guys can get the ball through – although I’m going to say that as I’m tall.”One batsman none of the England bowlers will have to worry about dismissing, at least for the first two Tests, is Virender Sehwag who is still recovering from the shoulder surgery that forced him to miss the recent West Indies tour. England know all about Sehwag’s ability to change a Test in a session after his 83 off 68 balls in Chennai put India on course for their emotional win in 2008, which was completed by Tendulkar’s unbeaten hundred.”Whenever you take a player of his quality out of a team, it is going to be a loss, no matter who replaces him,” Swann said. “As a team you get used to relying on guys who are that good, and over last three or four years, Sehwag has been phenomenal in both forms of the game. If you took Jonathan Trott out of our team, it would be a big hole to fill for whoever comes in. Yes, it is going to be a blow for India, how big you never know, because we don’t know how long he’s out for. He’s one of the best players in the world.”Regardless of Sehwag’s absence, it will be a major challenge for England to regularly dismiss India twice during the Tests. They’ll be hoping the call for pitches in their favour is heeded, although Lord’s may not be as accommodating as other venues.”I always believe that home advantage should be exactly that, we should tailor pitches to suit our seam attack because on our pitches it’s the best attack in the world,” Swann said. “But put the pitches to one side, if the ball swings through the air, I think we’ll be very dangerous.”

Lord's misses out as Cardiff wins Windies Test

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West Indies are set to become the first touring team since the 1998 Sri Lankans to miss out on a Test at Lord’s, after it emerged that the England & Wales Cricket Board had offered next summer’s fixture to Cardiff, in spite of the fact that the host county, Glamorgan, bid little more than half the £1million offered by MCC for the privilege.The full itinerary for 2012 has yet to be announced, but it is understood that the ECB’s major match group, an independent body chaired by the former Trade Unionist, Lord Morris of Handsworth, has recommended the West Indies Tests should be played at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and Cardiff, with South Africa’s tour later in the summer going to Lord’s, The Oval and Headingley.With London already set to host the 2012 Olympics next year, there is some merit in the ECB’s decision to dilute the sporting focus on the capital, which will still be staging two of the summer’s six Tests. Nevertheless, the route they have taken appears to fly in the face of their own policy of competitive tendering, with quotes from Paul Russell, the Glamorgan chairman, indicating that their bid for the West Indies’ game cannot have been more than £600,000.”We bid just over £2m for this game,” said Russell last week, following a disappointing first Test against Sri Lanka, during which just 922 spectators turned up to watch England’s thrilling final-day victory. “We have a West Indies Test match next year and the fee for that is less than 25% of what we paid for this game.”Russell also admitted to a “conceptual difficulty” in establishing Test cricket as a blue-riband sport in Wales, and Glamorgan needed a financial bail-out from the ECB last summer after the Pakistan match-fixing row, coupled with poor weather, wrecked the attendances at back-to-back Twenty20 games in September.Lord’s, however, is also feeling the financial strain, having made a loss of £2.4million for 2010. The ECB did offer the sop of a one-day international against West Indies, but MCC turned it down. “The MCC committee did not want to be party to an agreement that would deny the chance to watch Test cricket at Lord’s,” said a spokesman.Relations between the ECB and MCC hit a new low on Monday evening, when the launch of the new Sri Lanka Premier League, scheduled to be held in the Long Room on Thursday, had to be cancelled because the event clashed with a Friends Life t20 fixture between Middlesex and Essex.A statement read: “The agreement between ECB and FL precludes a launch of another competition, especially a Twenty20 competition, on the same day or indeed during a period set aside for FL media activity.”

Pacemen seal Sri Lanka outstanding victory

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ScorecardEoin Morgan became Dilhara Fernando’s third wicket in six balls as Sri Lanka overcame England Lions•Getty Images

The Sri Lankans gave themselves the perfect pre-Test tonic with an outstanding come-from-behind victory by 38 runs against England Lions. Despite following on 227 adrift they transformed the match and dismissed the Lions for 183 during the final session at Derby. Dilhara Fernando took three wickets in six balls including Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, a pair who had contrasting emotions after England’s Test squad was named, while Nuwan Pradeep went through the rest with 4 for 29.It was a superb performance from the Sri Lankans who were a distant second-best for the first two days. But they then batted with conviction in the second innings to amass 448 and bowled with real desire. The effort was led by Fernando’s 11-over spell and backed up by Pradeep, who could well have bowled himself into the Test side, and he took the key scalp of James Hildreth who was the Lions’ last real hope.The second half of this match included a host of positives for the visitors, beginning with the 200-run opening partnership and then the performance of the fast bowlers who made the most of a howling gale from their back. Sri Lanka’s pace attack is still their weakest suit heading into Cardiff, but they will have taken huge confidence from this performance.Hunting down 222 in 73 overs, the Lions had moved to 58 for 1 when Fernando began to make inroads. Bowling with the wind – which was actually a gale – from his back he gave James Taylor a roughing up with some short bowling before trimming his off stump with an excellent delivery. In his next over he claimed Bopara, to complete a tough day for the Essex man, when another short delivery brushed his glove as he failed to get out of the line.Morgan, who received good news last night from national selector Geoff Miller, came and went in a flash. He pulled his first ball to midwicket but two deliveries later pushed forward at a good length delivery and edged to second slip where Mahela Jayawardene, who dropped two in the first innings, was back in safe-hands mode.During the afternoon session Dilshan largely used his spinners into the howling wind so that his quicks could benefit from the assistance. Hildreth and Samit Patel set about reviving the innings from 67 for 4 although Patel should have gone on 20 when he tried to hit down the ground with the wind and Thisara Perera, at long-off, made a mess of judging the catch. Patel then flashed a low catch to gully where the fielder was slow to move. Either side of his two lives he played some handsome strokes until being given lbw when height looked an issue to end a stand of 61.After tea the Lions suffered another swift slump. Firstly Jonny Bairstow poked a catch back to Pradeep who took it well in his follow through and then Ajmal Shahzad was lbw to the first ball of a new spell from Perera, a pace bowler given a rare burst into the wind. Hildreth had played calmly for his 38 but then flicked a catch straight to deep square-leg where it was well held by Dinesh Chandimal.It meant Thilan Samaraweera’s stubborn 74, which extended the lead beyond 200, proved crucial. The Sri Lankans had lasted another 14 overs on the final morning as Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach wrapped up the innings. Dernbach, who took 5 for 44 in the first innings, ended with career-best match figures of 9 for 138 but, as Sri Lanka showed the fight that has made them such a successful team, they ended up in a losing cause. England will need to be switched on come Thursday.