So Sri Lanka had rescued a draw, and on to Headingley the players went. The feeling was one of frustration after the first test for England, while the tourists must have known they had performed the great escape and had their spirits buoyed by such a result.
England quickly put the disappointment behind them; Sri Lanka batted and struggled to 257 all out. The standout bowler being Liam Plunkett claiming 5-64 while the only batsmen to really assert any dominance was once again Kumar Sangakkara scoring a less than fluent 79, it could all have been so different however had Matt Prior managed to keep hold of a straight forward chance before he had made 50.
The batsmen will have wanted to ensure that they backed up the bowlers good work by putting a challenging score on the board, Cook once again fell cheaply. Sam Robson however showed everyone why the selectors had included him. A battling first test century had given England a good platform to build on but as we have seen so often recently they failed to push on and only one of the last seven batsmen made more than 20 runs meaning all of the hard work by Robson and the bowlers had gone to waist, and it was made worse by what was to follow.
Angelo Mathews took the opportunity to lead from the front. He quite literally batted England in to submission and was helped no end by Cooks, once again, poor captaincy. The pitch at this point had begun to turn, however the spinner bowled less overs than any of the other bowlers, he bowled Plunkett and Anderson for too long, while Stuart Broad looked unfit and was struggling to bowl above 85mph. Once again, England were waiting for a mistake rather than forcing one.
When Sri Lanka where bowled out for 457, England had a choice go for the win or bat for the draw. It appeared they did neither. By the end of the fourth day England found themselves 5-57, Robson, Cook, Bell, Balance and Plunkett all out in ways that could have been avoided. The first test was drama filled, and the second didn’t disappoint.
Moeen Ali made himself an England hero on this day. In fact I will go as far as to say he showed England’s top order exactly how to play on that wicket against those bowlers. He battled and fought hard for every run, and the bowlers once again supported the last batsmen superbly well. He deserved his first test hundred, facing 281 balls and trying his best to usher James Anderson through the final through overs. Sadly though it wasn’t to be with two balls remaining Eranga found the dream ball. A short delivery that rose sharply, Anderson could do nothing but fend the ball off, giving possibly the poorest fielder in the Sri Lankan side Rangana Herath, a simple catch.
So while England lost the series there were some positives to take. Sam Robson, Moeen Ali, Gary Ballance all scored their first test hundred. Liam Plunkett made a welcome return to test cricket and gave England the hostility their bowling attack had lacked since Andrew Flintoff’s retirement. Sadly there are some negatives to take away; Cook still appears to be struggling both with the captaincy and with the bat. It could be time for both Cook and the team management to consider his position in both the team and as captain. If any other player had suffered a run of form like that the selectors would not think twice of giving him time out of the spotlight, his side in the squad should not be safe just because he is captain.
The lack of front line spinner is a massive concern for many fans. I don’t doubt that Ali could do a successful job, but he has to be given the chance. If he isn’t going to be given the chance then a front line spinner needs to be selected, sady Simon Kerrigan appears to be next in line however following his poor test against Australia last summer it is unlikely the selectors will risk him again so soon. My other concern lies with Matt Prior, he looked good in the first test. He scored a very good half century in the first innings and made no noticeable or memorable errors behind the stumps, however in the second innings his errors returned, it is unlikely Jos Buttler will be given the chance just yet.
In summary England need a change, maybe a change of leadership is the way forward but with the series against India about to get underway we are unlikely to see anything drastic happen until after the summer.