England v Sri Lanka – day two live!

• Hit F5 or the auto-refresh tool for the latest news • Email any old nonsense to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Follow the match with our desktop scoreboard • Subscribe to our weekly email, The Spin • Buy Rob’s book, if you like 99th over: England 420-8 (Prior 106, Tremlett 3) Prior tends to bat fairly sedately with the tail, more Steve Waugh than Adam Gilchrist, as he showed at Trent Bridge last year . There is no sign yet that he is going to engage the long handle. “Greedy England fans,” says Niall Mullen. “Not so long ago this OBO would be full of dire warnings about the myriad ways England could stuff it up from here. Now we’re deciding which player we’d like to get a century the most. (It’s KP for me, as a cricket fan I’d love to see him back on track.)” 98th over: England 419-8 (Prior 105, Tremlett 3) Fernando replaces Lakmal, and Prior pushes him to deep point for a single. Tremlett gets off the mark with a two, to the disappointment of the Sky commentators: they had just pointed out that, of all current Test players, Tremlett has the highest percentage of his runs in threes. That is a magnificently diabolical statistic. Tremlett survives a pretty big LBW appeal later in the over when a yorker knocks him off his feet. It appeared to be sliding down, and replays show it actually hit the bat rather than the pad. Dilshan decided to review the decision , but it was not out. Billy Doctrove had given the resulting run as a leg-bye, but it was changed to runs as a result of the review. “Prior batted beautifully yesterday,” says Martin Saville, “but he’s had so much luck this morning I suspect he also has a drawer full of Olympic tickets, including four trackside for the men’s 100m.” And you should hear what Zooey Deschanel is saying about him. 97th over: England 414-8 (Prior 103, Tremlett 0) This morning: nine overs, 72 runs, two wickets. Test cricket, eh. “About Quilmes being a special lager: being in Argentina, it is readily available in one-litre bottles for the equivalent about 80 pence, rather than the £3-4 I assume you are being rushed for at a popular supermarket chain,” says Jon Allison. “Quilmes is effectively Carlsberg or Carling over here: it’s everywhere, they sponsor music events, and many people don’t like it. The microbreweries here are excellent though, some of them have ended up taking the commercial plunge and sell excellent stuff, like the beers made by ‘Otro Mundo’ and ‘Patagonia’. Quilmes have brought out a new beer, Bajo Cero, which is smoother than the regular one. I’d recommend you get Jonathan Wilson to bring you some back with him next time he’s in this neck of the woods, for the Copa America. Of course, the trade-off of being here is not being able to watch the cricket properly!” I’m not sure I actually like Quilmes that much; I just fell in love with the label when it was on some shirt or other in the Argentinian League in the early 1990s, which you could watch on Screensport, and now I feel obliged to drink it whenever I see it. That’s quite weird, isn’t it. WICKET! England 414-8 (Swann c Paranavitana b Welegedara 4) Two wickets in an over for Welegedera. He went around the wicket to Swann, who pushed at a decent delivery outside off stump and edged it to Paranavitana in a wide slip position. “They’ve caught one!” chirps Bumble on Sky. WICKET! England 410-7 (Broad LBW b Welegedara 54) That’s the end of a brilliant partnership. Broad plays all around a straight one from Welegedera, bat jammed behind the front pad, and is palpably LBW. He considered a review, but Prior rightly persuaded him otherwise. Broad walks off to a nice ovation, well deserved after a swashbuckling knock of 54 from 51 balls. He and Prior added 108 in only 15 overs. 96th over: England 410-6 (Prior 103, Broad 54) Prior has now edged four balls in a row. This is just weird. He tried to cut a ball from Lakmal that was too close for the shot, and it went right between keeper and slip (who is a bit wider than first slip), with both of them motionless. That takes Prior to 99, and he pushes the next ball to mid on to reach a wonderful hundred from 107 balls. He got through the nineties in bizarre fashion, but that shouldn’t obscure how exceptionally he played until then. It’s his fifth Test hundred and his second in a row. He is a gem of a player. Mind you, he is batting like a clown right now, and later in the over yet another edge, this one from a beautiful lifter, loops over the cordon for three more. That’s five genuine edges in six balls from Prior. Lakmal has conceded 26 from his last two overs, and they have both been crackers. “I most want to see a century from Broad,” says Sara Torvalds. “No, make that two centuries. Either a double now (and another for Prior), which would be awesome, but I’ll settle for one now and another in the second innings. And a five-fer to boot. A serious comeback after his Ashes didn’t turn out the way he’d have wished.” 95th over: England 398-6 (Prior 95, Broad 50) Prior is dropped! This is getting silly. He has now edged three deliveries in a row. This one came when he had a big waft outside off stump at Welegedera. It flew to Jayawardene at second slip, and he put it down. He would take those 19 times out of 20 I reckon. Broad rubs it in next ball by clouting a full delivery in the air and back whence it came for four. Broad is really bullying Sri Lanka. He has a big drive at the next ball, and it screws just short of mid on and then through him before trickling into the fence. That’s Broad’s ninth boundary, and more importantly it takes him to a splendid 47-ball fifty. England have scored 56 in seven overs tomorrow. It’s been exhilarating stuff. 94th over: England 387-6 (Prior 94, Broad 41) Dumb luck for Lakmal, who bowls a beautiful over – and concedes 14. First he nips a jaffa back through the gate of Broad and just past the off stump. It kept a bit low too. Broad waves the next ball through extra cover for three and then Prior, pushing outside off stump, edges a good awayswinger between the Jayawardenes for four. Prasanna, the keeper, dived to his right but couldn’t quite get there. The next ball is also edged for four, this time wide of second slip. It was another lovely outswinger, and Lakmal wears the rueful expression of a man who has just had all his Martika CDs nicked. “I’m on assignment photographing the women’s world surfing tour in hossegor, France,” Later on I’ve got to shoot the delightfully monickered Hawaiian star ‘Coco Ho’, but right now there’s a break in proceedings; I’m looking out over the bay of biscay, a cold beer in my hand with OBO updating. Life is beautiful!” You lucky, lucky bast It’s always lovely to hear that the OBO is being followed around the world. Keep the emails coming! 93rd over: England 373-6 (Prior 83, Broad 38) Broad leans into a huge drive at Welegedara. “Och, what a shot” coos Smyth. The ball flies straight up in the air but just clears mid on. That reminded me of the time Shahid Afridi smeared one straight up in the air. “That’s a magnificent hit,” said Bob Willis, before correcting himself a split-second later. “But it’s been caught in the wind….” Five from the over. Sri Lanka are hemmorh… they’re haemmor.. they’re haemora- they’re conceding a lot of runs. Is there a harder word to spell than haemorrhage? I have to look it up every time. “Who do I want to get a century the most?” wonders James Himsworth. “Pietersen definitely! Can you imagine the roar if he does…..and that would just be him!” 92nd over: England 368-6 (Prior 81, Broad 35) Lakmal strays onto the pads and is timed nicely through midwicket for two by Prior. England are cruising, and Broad takes consecutive boundaries with a help round the corner and a withering pull stroke. He gave that some serious humpty. Broad has been perky in this innings, particularly for a man who faced only one ball in Test cricket between September 2010 and May 2011. Mind you, he has always liked batting at Lord’s . “Re: KP, am I the only one who fears if he was dropped from the Test side he’d just say sod it, pack it all in and coast to early retirement and live off sporadic IPL performances and his wife’s excellent music career?” says Keith Allman. “He certainly hasn’t responded well to being marginalised before.” I don’t think he’d go that far, but I do think his fragile confidence needs to be managed very carefu HANG ON DID YOU SAY EXCELLENT MUSIC CAREER? 91st over: England 357-6 (Prior 78, Broad 27) There has been a bit of swing for Sri Lanka – this ball is only 11 overs old – but not enough to worry England. It looks a very good day for batting, and England are nudging singles very comfortably. “The problem for KP will come when England decide that they need ten overs bowling from a batsman,” says Gary Naylor. “A four-man attack is clearly the way to go, but, without Colly’s cutters, there isn’t anyone to break a partnership or give the seamers a rest. Ravi can do that, but Ben Stokes may be the coming man for that role. And the batsman to make way has to be KP.” Well, if it were to happen now it might have to be KP (although I still think he is ahead of Morgan), but everything could have changed by Tuesday, never mind in a few Tests’ time. It’s a shame James Taylor doesn’t bowl, as he should be the next cab off the rank in my always humble one. 90th over: England 354-6 (Prior 76, Broad 26) Suranga Lakmal, who was probably Sri Lanka’s best bowler yesterday, starts at the Gin & Tonic End. Prior tucks him off the pads for a single to bring up a splendid fifty partnership, from only 49 balls. It’s been textbook lower-middle order batting. “If Pietersen hasn’t improved sufficiently by the time we’re halfway through the India series, we should drop him for a while, but take the chance to experiment with the extra bowler, everyone below three moving up one,” says John Starbuck. “After all, it’s easier to train up bowlers to become better batsmen than the reverse.” Personally I wouldn’t do that; we’ll need every run we can get against India, even though the lack of a fifth bowler is a slight concern. And this line-up, as we said yesterday, has perhaps the most intimidating group of batsmen from Nos 6-9 that England have ever had. I’d don’t think England should compromise that strength cover a weakness. 89th over: England 351-6 (Prior 74, Broad 25) Chanaka Welegedera opens the bowling, and his first delivery is a good one that angles past the outside edge of the groping Prior. He takes a single to midwicket next ball, and then Broad squirts an edge along the ground and past backward point for four. Two balls later Broad gets another boundary with a storming drive over extra cover. A fine start for England; nine from the over. “A question for you,” says Chris Wright. “Who, at this moment, would you most like to score a century for England during this Test match? Prior, of course, might be about to do so, but assuming we get a full second innings in, who do you want it to be? Do you go with those who clearly need a century (chiefly Pietersen, arguably Strauss), or are you instead more inspired by those you want to see continuing in extraordinary form (Cook, Trott, possibly Bell)? Do you want a century to settle the new guy (Morgan) or something more maverick and unexpected (Swann)? You can pick one…” Morgan, because I have a mild obsession with him. But from a team point of view, Pietersen, definitely. An email from Andrew Stroud “Looking back on yesterday’s highlights, it strikes me that had KP got out in the manner that Cook did on 96, then the papers & the commentary would have been full of the usual opprobrium for KP that we have seen when he has got himself out in such a manner before. I bet he’d give his eye teeth to be in a position to get that sort of criticism again! I’m no apologist for KP, but I do feel a bit sorry for him at the moment – I think he was harshly treated over the captaincy when he only did what they asked of him anyway, and doesn’t seem to have fully recovered his mojo since. Maybe it’s fatherhood, being happily married, I don’t know. More than any player in the team, he does seem to need the love and adoration of the crowd, something he isn’t getting at the moment because he isn’t doing enough to deserve it. Would he benefit from a spell back at Surrey, flaying 2nd division bowlers to all parts? After all, being dropped didn’t do Bell or Strauss any harm. Tough call, because it’s only Twenty20 for a while now and there’s no chance for him to get much first-class cricket in. Should any one player be undroppable anyway? Do you only drop players if the replacement would strengthen the team? And who do you bring in – not sure I’d bring in Bopara, even if he is next in line, but Hildreth, Stokes, Taylor seem to have a lot of backing (not seen any of them bat so couldn’t say). Any thoughts from yourself or other OBOers?” I don’t think it’s quite the crisis that is being suggested. Dropping him is a big risk; I think the potential damage to his ego is greater than the potential reward. Leave him it for now. Give him a lot of love, lots of man-hugs, and review it after the first two India Tests. One thing I’d consider is asking him if he’d like to drop back to No5, with Ian Bell moving up to No4. I suspect he would be receptive to that. Ah, the Saturday of the Lord’s Test . So much to answer for So many happy memories. The No10 Geoff Bloody Lawson flogging 74 in 1989 ; Shane Bloody Warne and Tim Bloody May skittling England in 1993 ; South Africa chugging towards a lead of 17 million in 1994 ; South Africa chugging towards a lead of 17 million in 2003 ; England dropping 17 million catches in 2005. But seriously – because sometimes the laughter has to stop – it is a great day in the cricket calendar, and they have been so many wonderful moments. A few favourites include Darren Gough’s headbanging catch to dismiss Keith Arthurton in 1995 ; the terrifying run-chase against the West Indies in 2000 (how different might the Duncan Fletcher era have been without that cameo from Dominic Cork?); the thrilling strangulation of India’s galacticos on a flat deck in 2002 ; and, last and undeniably least, Gus Fraser’s 67-ball 10 to help England avoid the follow-on against New Zealand in 1994 . Preamble Morning. Back in the day, batting first and scoring 400 in a Test almost granted immunity from defeat; and, while that changed when scoring rates increased so dramatically around the turn of the century (there are 36 examples of a side batting first, scoring 400 and losing, and 23 of those have come since 1998 ), it still gives you a platform from which you shouldn’t lose. For England, 400 was once an almost unattainable fantasy, like 20 wickets, staying in the game against Australia beyond lunch on the first day, or finding a bar in London that sells very, very, very cold bottles of Quilmes. These days they reach 400 almost as a matter of course. They will resume on 342 for six at Lord’s this morning; if they get another 58 runs, they will have reached 400 for the fourth consecutive innings. [Statgasm] Only once before have England done that, back in 2003, and that was aided by a couple of gimmes against a poor Zimbabwe side [/Statgasm]. Who knew being an English cricket fan could be so nice ? England cricket team Sri Lanka cricket team Cricket Over by over reports Rob Smyth Tom Lutz guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.