LONDON: England forced Sri Lanka to follow on 359 behind at Lord's on Saturday but it could not find the carefree attack that shot the middle order to pieces and for the first time we saw coaching staff, selectors and players casting anxious glances at the overcast sky. Bad weather is on the way and

England will be annoyed if it has not found enough time to force victory in the first Test of this three-match series despite dominating it since Andrew Flintoff won the toss.

Matthew Hoggard needed only two overs to find his way through the defence of Jehan Mubarak with another incoming delivery of the sort that had both the inexperienced openers lbw in the first innings.

He has bowled superbly in this match with five wickets in his first 16 overs, barely a ball misplaced and only 30 runs conceded.

Upal Tharanga and Sangakkara held out for the next hour while another 30 runs were scored without much trouble and half an hour before tea Paul Collingwood got his first bowl of the match. The spinner Monty Panesar had, it appeared, been brought along only for his misfielding.

While wickets were falling on day two it was understandable that Panesar should shuffle his feet restlessly at long but as Sri Lanka dug in there must have been room for slow bowling on a pitch still largely without vice.

When he came on for a single over he turned the ball so much that four byes resulted; an example of what might have been.

Jayasuriya factor

It was time to wonder what will happen if Sanath Jayasuriya is considered fit for the second Test at Edgbaston a week on Thursday. Whoever insisted that he be added to the squad did not understand the ways of sport.

This Sri Lankan side would have been whitewashed with a minimum of complaints if it felt its opening batsmen had improved. Now, the arrival of Jayasuriya means one of them will be dropped and his development arrested.

It is also bound to disturb the way the other players keep together. They laughed and teased one another and seemed at ease with themselves during the practice here on Wednesday.

I wonder how they feel now that an old star has been thrust into their midst. England used up two hours capturing the four remaining Sri Lankan first innings wickets as 101 runs were scored. Hoggard took 200th Test wicket when he caught and bowled Maharoof diving to his left and his 201st when Chaminda Vaas slashed at a very wide ball.

Two other Yorkshiremen have taken 200 Test wickets: Fred Trueman with 307 and Darren Gough (229). Trueman, 75, will have taken a special pleasure in Hoggard's performance.

"He'll bowl all day for you, will that lad," he said to me the last time we spoke. Now Trueman is ill and the prognosis is poor; happily Hoggard's future is bright if only as the slowest of a bright set of quick bowlers.

Overnight Sajid Mahmood has been transformed into a hero after his three wickets in nine balls at about 90 miles an hour but today told a different story.

He is not yet the answer to all problems but if he continues to develop he could fill the place left vacant by Simon Jones's repeated injuries. Jones's explosive pace in the middle of the innings was replicated by Mahmood on Friday but today he sprayed the ball around for half a dozen overs and never looked likely to provide a breakthrough.

"He has something," said former England captain Alec Stewart. "I'd like to know the man before I make any predictions but as he learns about his own bowling and grows stronger he will get better."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail