Not a brilliant start for England but Ben Foakes on debut and Jos Buttler steadying the ship with a 50 partnership to bring the score to 154/5

Another batting failure by the top order, disappointing but not surprising.

Watching now and Foakes seems to have a very good temperament.
Hope I have not talked him out.
What is a good score on these wickets against a decent spin attack?

DAVETHEVICAR wrote:Watching now and Foakes seems to have a very good temperament.
Hope I have not talked him out.
What is a good score on these wickets against a decent spin attack?

I'd take 250 Dave as the wicket will get worse by the session hence us picking 3 spinners and dropping Broad.

Foakes batting very well.

199 for 6 at Tea.....eek!

One little nugget from today.
Rangana Herath, still going as Test Crickets last playing link to the last century.
(Unless they call Bumble back and give him a cap for a charity Test)

What is a good score on these wickets against a decent spin attack?

The last test at Galle was v S Africa. SL batted first & got 287, SA then 126, SL 190, SA 73. So the 1st innings 287 led to a big win
That's not completely typical but batting seems to get pretty tricky by the last innings there (not untypical of most TM I guess).

I think England would be "satisfied" to pass 250 - then hopefully the spinners will bowl well at Sri Lanka. The weather forecast suggests there'll be a fair few rain interruptions over the game so a draw is a possibility despite the lowish scores.

My adopted cricket viewing county is Surrey where Ive watched quite a bit of Ben Foakes since he came from Essex, he's got a fine temperament & his skills are improving at a decent rate; I hope he can get England past 250 with his county team-mate & edge up towards that ton for himself.

Buxtonclaret wrote:One little nugget from today.
Rangana Herath, still going as Test Crickets last playing link to the last century.
(Unless they call Bumble back and give him a cap for a charity Test)

There was something in commentary about him playing first class cricket before the player he was bowling to had been born.

As for today - good recovery from the poor start.

ClaretTony wrote:There was something in commentary about him playing first class cricket before the player he was bowling to had been born.

As for today - good recovery from the poor start.

Great recovery. This has been, still is, a superb partnership.
First I've seen of Foakes. Impressive debut.

Great fight back
Dickwella has made a couple smart catches

Curran gone, edging a wide one to slip.
Good knock though.
Kept the score going whenever they tried to turn the screw.

252/7

300/7
Good effort.

321/8 at close.
Foakes 87 no.
Hope he can get his ton tommorrow.

Really is a good score, considering we were 100/5 at one time.

We were about 110/5 when I tuned in this morning - 321 looked a long, long way away then. Excellent comeback.

Great comeback again from the middle order,Foakes fantastic knock on debut,hope he can post a ton tomorrow, and Curran impressing once more,

It must demoralise the opposition knowing even if England are 4/5 down for 100 or so they can still make a decent total.

Not looking good for Jonny Bairstow with 2 better keepers in the side and both of them making runs.

jrgbfc wrote:Not looking good for Jonny Bairstow with 2 better keepers in the side and both of them making runs.

I think that Foakes is widely recognised as the best keeper in England and with his batting performance today you may have a fair point as you can't see any of the bowlers being dropped.

tybfc wrote:I think that Foakes is widely recognised as the best keeper in England and with his batting performance today you may have a fair point as you can't see any of the bowlers being dropped.

In normal conditions we are a batter short. Not often we play 2 spinners let alone 3 as in this match.
If we were playing Australia at Trent Bridge you'd most likely see Broad and Bairstow in that line-up with just Moeen as the spinner, (backed up by Root).
Bairstow needs to try to fill that problematic No. 3 spot, though I'm not sure he's up to it. No one else is though, so they might do worse than try it.

Don’t think Ali should be coming in at Number 3
Root needs to grow some

A strange selection of the team. Why was Broad dropped? Are they saying Curran is a better bowler?

Also, bringing in Foakes to keep (I assume) - surely this will annoy Buttler?

And is the wicket going to turn that much that we need three spinners? From what I've seen of Leach he doesn't seem to offer that much more than Moeen?

Foulthrow wrote:A strange selection of the team. Why was Broad dropped? Are they saying Curran is a better bowler?

Also, bringing in Foakes to keep (I assume) - surely this will annoy Buttler?

And is the wicket going to turn that much that we need three spinners? From what I've seen of Leach he doesn't seem to offer that much more than Moeen?

If they presume their wasn't going to be much bounce then absolutely Curran is a better bowler than Broad whose been poor in the sub continent for much of his career and the fact the spinners are going to bowl the vast majority of the overs Curran is a better batsman. I am another whose not convinced by the three spinners we have though especially Leach. Yes the wicket will turn but the spinners have to be good enough to deliver.

Foulthrow wrote:A strange selection of the team. Why was Broad dropped? Are they saying Curran is a better bowler?

Also, bringing in Foakes to keep (I assume) - surely this will annoy Buttler?

And is the wicket going to turn that much that we need three spinners? From what I've seen of Leach he doesn't seem to offer that much more than Moeen?

Very sensible to select Foakes. It's very hard in those hot humid conditions to bat all day, and then keep wicket. I don't think they wanted Buttler in that position. They want him to focus on scoring runs. (Of course, if Foakes keeps having long innings, then they have the option of Buttler keeping if he's had a good rest)
There would have been no logic in playing Anderson, Broad, Stokes and Curran, on a wicket on which the seamers are most likely to bowl very few overs.
On that basis Curran was a better call, because, as has been proved to be the case, he is by far the better batter, and at present one of our biggest run contributors.

Foulthrow wrote:A strange selection of the team. Why was Broad dropped? Are they saying Curran is a better bowler?

Also, bringing in Foakes to keep (I assume) - surely this will annoy Buttler?

And is the wicket going to turn that much that we need three spinners? From what I've seen of Leach he doesn't seem to offer that much more than Moeen?

Broad's record speaks for itself but you only need to look at the Sri Lankan side with one quick bowler to tell you that the pitch will turn as the match goes on. Curran is a far better batsman than Broad as he has shown today and also offers something different with the ball.

Foakes is an excellent keeper and Jos Buttler is laid back enough and used to having his nose pushed out of the stumpers spot not to be overly worried. Buttler is also an very good fielder.

I reckon for once they have the team spot on.

RocketLawnChair wrote:I am another whose not convinced by the three spinners we have though especially Leach. Yes the wicket will turn but the spinners have to be good enough to deliver.

But isn't that the very reason why they've gone with 3? There's theoretically enough batting in the team, and no point playing 4 seamers, so you might as well give them all a chance to see what they can do. At least it gives some variety to the attack.

ClaretTony wrote:We were about 110/5 when I tuned in this morning - 321 looked a long, long way away then. Excellent comeback.

Same here, I watched 20 mins before going to work, it wasn't looking good.

Who, within the powers that be in English cricket, has decided that Moeen is a number three test batsman? Give me strength!

I think even people in the England set up accept Mooen Ali isn't a number 3 batsmen, but playing in the subcontinent it's a way of getting an extra spinner in. We desperately need to find a number 3 from somewhere though, I'd have given James Vince a little bit longer to prove himself personally.

330 /9
Foakes still there on 95

Can Jimmy see him through to a ton...

Phew.
Very crowded around the wicket.
Soft hands see the over through.
Nervous stuff.

99!
Four, punched through square leg.

And Ben Foakes does it!
100 on debut, another four through long off.

2nd keeper to do it behind Prior.
Hugely impressive feat.

All out. 342

Foakes out, 107

Great effort by Foakes & well done 8,9,10,J for their contributions too.
I didnt plan to get up for 4.30 but woke c 4.10 (I think because of the rain battering my window), tried to get back to sleep for 5-10 mins then decided I'd get downstairs and watch the cricket. Time for a nap this afternoon maybe.
Oh- Jimmy strikes already!

Just looking on Google maps.
What a place for a cricket ground!

Jimmy!
4/1

LeadBelly wrote:Great effort by Foakes & well done 8,9,10,J for their contributions too.
I didnt plan to get up for 4.30 but woke c 4.10 (I think because of the rain battering my window), tried to get back to sleep for 5-10 mins then decided I'd get downstairs and watch the cricket. Time for a nap this afternoon maybe.
Oh- Jimmy strikes already!

I set the alarm!
Fancied watching to see if he could do it.
Will likely regret it later.

10/2
Curran takes the second.

Curran's getting the ball to straighten as he goes across the right handers, got that one to pitch in exactly the right spot.

I like the map, I had a look on the general map the other day to see where on SL Galle was & noticed it almost on the southern tip (a bit round to the west and north)- I didnt look in detail though- yes a great spot for a cricket ground.

34/3
Leach has Mendis caught!

Leach is bowling well, keeping the pressure on- no freebies.
England have done grand since that first bad session- good recovery from a poorish position to a strong one now.
Getting Matthews before lunch would be a huge blow.

And another down 40-4.
Silly play that- he went for the -step over to off/reach forward/scoop over shoulder type shot first bowl from Moeen and got away with it, tried it again 2 bowls later and that was his goose cooked on the verge of lunch!

42-4 at lunch......we could get the follow on yet!

ClaretDiver wrote:42-4 at lunch......we could get the follow on yet!

Even if we did; we wouldnt enforce it. Practically disappeared from modern test cricket.

I'm showered/shaved/dressed/breakfasted and all ready for the day's 2nd session now.

SL could yet recover, as England did, but England are looking far smarter in the field than SL did yesterday. If the weather doesn't interfere I think we'll be batting again after tea (hope so anyway). Matthews can be obdurate though.

Recovery on now.


Edit, Chandimal out, stumped. Bowled Rashid.

What do they need to avoid the follow on?

ClaretDiver wrote:What do they need to avoid the follow on?

Already avoided it. Got to get within 200 of our score.

Good day for us - century for Foakes, bowled them out and started well in second innings.

Enjoyed watching that today and, as one who has had doubts about Root's captaincy, I think that he led the side very well today and was backed up well with his bowlers. This is cetainly a game which we should not lose and it would be great to pick up our first win at Galle ---fingers crossed.

Agreed Ashington, I was thinking about the improvement in Root's captaincy myself whilst we were in the field today- quite noticeable.
I think he's got to the stage where he's reading the conditions/state of play and reacting to "what's in front of him" now rather than playing too much to pre-determined formulae.
He hit good notes all day on balancing attack/defence and getting the right bowling changes etc. It did help having a decent 1st innings score for once admittedly.