logo

This is backed up by the fact that 272 of the 555

Posted by admin   ·     ·   Jump to comments

This is backed up by the fact that 272 of the 555 runs that Sri Lanka scored were behind the wicket and 243 were in front.If England's game plan was to bully these diminutive Sri Lankans with short-pitched bowling then it has not worked, even if Atapattu's magnificent innings ended with a top-edged hook at a bouncer.Atapattu's dismissal, like those of Russel Arnold, Aravinda de Silva and Nuwan Zoysa, were to short balls, but having scored 185, 50, 88 and 28 respectively it is hard to conclude that this tactic was successful.While the effort Dominic Cork puts in is laudable, his method made a mockery of the fact he was selected because he had rediscovered his outswinger In one 10-ball spell he bowled eight short balls. If England required a bowler to bang the ball in the dirt over after over there are bigger, quicker and younger models than Cork.Despite Cork's credible figures of 3 for 93, which he achieved before being forced out of the attack with a groin strain, it appears the selectors may have gone back to this well once too often.With a minimum of 270 overs still to go in this game, England have a substantial task on their hands to avoid defeat. They can be thankful Muttiah Muralitharan is not yet in the country. ENGLAND ­ First InningsM E Trescothick c Jayasuriya b Zoysa 13 18 min, 12 balls, 2 foursM P Vaughan not out 4 40 min, 27 ballsM A Butcher not out 7 21 min, 11 ballsExtras (w1, nb2) 3Total (for 1, 40 min, 8 overs) 27Fall: 1-17 (Trescothick).To bat: *N Hussain, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, ? J Stewart, A Flintoff, D G Cork, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard.Bowling: Vaas 4-1-9-0 (nb1); Zoysa 3-0-18-1 (nb1, w1); Fernando 1-1-0-0 (one spell each).Progress: Second day: Bad light stopped play: 6.40pm.Umpires: D J Harper (Aus) and S Venkataraghavan (Ind)..

David Beckham was yesterday bouncing his way back to fitness as the England squad received a warning of the tough conditions they must overcome in Japan and South Korea to win the World Cup. The England captain bounced repeatedly on his left foot to cushion the injury, allowing him to kick balls with his right foot to get himself back into shape.Sven Goran Eriksson is said to be pleased by the progress made by Beckham and Nicky Butt, while Sol Campbell, who is resting a gashed shin, was the only other player not to take part in yesterday's training in Dubai. The squad leave today to fly to South Korea, where they will be based for a week and will play a warm-up game against the joint World Cup hosts.While their wives, families and partners fly home, Kieron Dyer is due to join up in an attempt to prove his fitness after making remarkable progress from a knee injury. Dyer was due to fly last night on a plane laid on by British Airways with only eight fellow passengers, all from the Football Association, including the chief executive, Adam Crozier.They were due to land this morning at 9am local time in Dubai, giving them time only for a shower at the squad hotel before setting off back to the airport to take the same plane on a nine-hour flight to South Korea. Training is then due to take place late tomorrow afternoon, although Dyer's fitness tests are not scheduled to start until Monday. The Newcastle midfielder will also be behind his team-mates in adapting to the time difference and the hot conditions in the Far East.

The squad have been warned they will lose up to half a stone during matches, apart from their group game against Argentina, which will be played inside a climate-controlled dome.The England medical staff have been weighing players before and after training sessions in Dubai, where even a gentle jog results in a minimum 2lb weight loss. "Sven has advised the squad to be sensible in the heat and not have too much sun," Gareth Southgate said yesterday. "But he needn't have worried because it has been so hot here that it's impossible to spend much time away from the shade anyway."* England Under-20s lost their Toulon Festival third place play-off match, going down 5-4 on penalties to Japan. After a 0-0 draw, Chelsea's Leon Knight and Coventry's Craig Pead both missed spot kicks..

readers comments

Comments are closed.

NBA

NBA

MLB

MLB

NFL

NFL

NHL

NHL

WWE

WWE

Your sideblock text goes here