Sri Lanka win toss and chose to bat.
Not a great weather forecast over the 5 days but recently tests involving England have finished early.

3 down in 35 minutes. Can’t see this one last very long either

Sri Lanka 80/5 at lunch(25 overs)

Saw this on the Telegraph coverage just as the innings started:

"Sri Lanka’s top seven boast 71 Test hundreds, England 47 with Joe Root contributing 32 of those alone so this is going to be more of a challenge than the West Indies series. But Sri Lanka have only played two Tests outside Asia in the last three years so conditions will be alien, and this is their first series of more than two matches since 2018 which will test their resilience."

They may be getting a bit more of a feel for English conditions by the time of third test at the Oval in early September but, weather permitting, it's difficult to envisage too much exciting 4th/5th day action in this series.

Anderson would have overtaken Shane Warne today if he was playing, ridiculous decision to retire him in the previous series.

Was thinking that myself, should have let Anderson have a proper farewell at OT in front of a proper crowd instead of the Lords prawn sandwich brigade.

jrgbfc wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2024 4:10 pm

Was thinking that myself, should have let Anderson have a proper farewell at OT in front of a proper crowd instead of the Lords prawn sandwich brigade.

There wouldn’t have been as many empty seats either

Especially with no Stokes..Could have left out a younger bowler as a one off and made him England Captain in front of his own fans..It's the least he deserved...

Can't say I was thrilled about the management of the JA 'exit', but there was an argument to say time should have been called after the Ashes. I am not sure any player however great should be kept around to chase records, but I think that's exactly what happened during the India series.

Sri Lanka 236 all out

jrgbfc wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2024 4:10 pm

Was thinking that myself, should have let Anderson have a proper farewell at OT in front of a proper crowd instead of the Lords prawn sandwich brigade.

You and umpteen thousands of other cricket lovers!
Been an ongoing topic all summer between my lunchtime pint friends.

giveusaB wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2024 5:29 pm

Sri Lanka 236 all out

A fair recovery from 113-7 but not a great score to post having won the toss and batted. Lets see how the Sri Lanka bowlers set about their business tomorrow but you'd expect a decent 1st innings lead from England from here.

Another here who would've liked Jimmy to have bowled at OT this morning/afternoon and chalked up a few more wickets.

England 358 (Smith 111) lead 122
Sri Lanka at lunch are 10/2

In other sports news, good test this.

England need 78 with 6 wickets in hand. Looks fairly straightforward on paper but Sri Lanka are bowling well and scoring isn't easy.