SL tour of Eng, Aug 21 - Sept 10

[Durhamfootman]

I saw there were raised eyebrows that the umpires told Pope to bowl spin or come off, 2 balls into a Woakes over, but by the end of that over they then decided it was okay for Stone to bowl as fast as he liked. I wonder when Woakes last had to bowl spin?

[bigfluffylemon]

Who'd have thought there might be light issues this late in the season?

Poor day from England. 230-3 to 325 all out is not where you should be.

[bigfluffylemon]

Apparently England were compelled to play on but had to bowl spin for 17 overs. What an absolute farce.

[alfie]

Apparently England were compelled to play on but had to bowl spin for 17 overs. What an absolute farce.

Hardly compelled...could have said they wanted to bowl the seamers and then the umpires would have called it off. Questionable tactics to persist as long as they did... spinners looked innocuous (apart from the dolly catch Hull somehow contrived to drop ) and they just enabled Sri Lanka to collect some valuable risk free runs. Hope England show a bit of a harder edge when play gets under way again : need to take the opposition seriously even when they have been fairly poor previously , or you could get bitten...

[alfie]

I saw there were raised eyebrows that the umpires told Pope to bowl spin or come off, 2 balls into a Woakes over, but by the end of that over they then decided it was okay for Stone to bowl as fast as he liked. I wonder when Woakes last had to bowl spin?

Wonder if Woakes has ever had to bowl spin ... didn't look like it from those few balls. If he came and bowled that tripe at my club side bats would be queueing up to face it !

[bigfluffylemon]

Apparently England were compelled to play on but had to bowl spin for 17 overs. What an absolute farce.

Hardly compelled...could have said they wanted to bowl the seamers and then the umpires would have called it off. Questionable tactics to persist as long as they did... spinners looked innocuous (apart from the dolly catch Hull somehow contrived to drop ) and they just enabled Sri Lanka to collect some valuable risk free runs. Hope England show a bit of a harder edge when play gets under way again : need to take the opposition seriously even when they have been fairly poor previously , or you could get bitten...

I don't understand why they can't just put the floodlights on and play normally under those conditions. They can play day/night tests for crying outloud. How dark could it have been under floodlights?

And yes, if England chose to stay on and bowl filth spin, it was a questionable decision at best.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Might be a rain off today.

I think England see their bad light bowling as a part of their attacking intent. That they want to keep the game moving forward and they can't create chances in the dressing room. Plus it shows faith in their main spinner. Maybe it didn't work, but it's part of the broader gameplan that arguably is working.

[Arthur Crabtree]

The fresh faced Hull gets early wicket before the rain though.

Might work on an England XI with the same names as towns and cities tonight if I can't get to sleep. Not sure if I can have Stokes. Both also give me a start on an XI with names of towns and cities who voted leave.

[bigfluffylemon]

Quick wickets as soon as England can bowl the quicks again. Shows up yesterday even more.

Crawley is another for your list.

[mikesiva]

Sri Lanka 263 all out

Nissanka 64
Dhananjaya 69
Kamindu 64

Stone 3-35
Hull 3-53

[Arthur Crabtree]

Compton is a city in California.

Atherton is a town in Greater Manchester.

Anyone with -ton at the end of the name is bound to be a winner.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England in big trouble here.

[Durhamfootman]

gonna need an Atkinson ton

[Arthur Crabtree]

Acko's out for 1. What can Smith do?

[Durhamfootman]

a chance to make a name for himself