Key events
24th over: Sri Lanka 91-3 (Mathews 41, Dhananjaya 8) Finally for England, Mathews can’t find an early single. Eventually pulls one from the fifth ball. England set a field for Dhananjaya on the pull, Potts bowls a wide though, and the rebowl towards leg stump does nothing.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 89-3 (Mathews 40, Dhananjaya 8) Good bit from the TV camera operators, who find a Ben Stokes lookalike in the crowd, who pops a double thumbs-up on the big screen. So they cut to the real Stokes on the balcony, who copies the gesture. Back to the lookalike, who whips off his jacket and turns around to reveal a Stokes 55 Test shirt. As close as cricket gets to sketch comedy.
Dhananjaya winds up for a big swing at Bashir and clubs it into the ground, but butters up next ball and advances to smite four straight. Down by 33.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 84-3 (Mathews 39, Dhananjaya 4) Potts returns, and Mathews cruises on, another easy nudge for one off his legs. Dhananjaya is finding it harder going, still marooned on four. Unlike Adam Levine, who is marooned on five.
Another letter from the past from Michael White.
“The huge difference between 1981 and 2005 was, of course, the OBO. In 1985, I was doing the Inca Trail in South America and had to rely on days-old English newspapers at British Council Libraries in Bogota, Quito and Lima, plus buttonholing newly arrived tourists to find out the latest news of Botham’s latest miracle. Having gone to escape all the fuss about the wedding of Charles and Diana, it was salt in the wound when the only news from UK on TV in Quito was about the wedding.
“In 2005, it was a great communal experience. The last few overs at Edgbaston are seared into the memory, and oh, how we enjoyed the Ponting run out. But most of all we could follow every moment of the match on our computers while praying for rain/pretending to work!”
Michael, I can’t quite fathom why one would be in the glories of the Andes and still thinking about Ian Botham. But I suppose we each have our own peaks to scale.
21st over: Sri Lanka 83-3 (Mathews 38, Dhananjaya 4) Nothing doing for Dhananjaya against Bashir. Mathews shuffles once to drive a run after a stutter, but his partner is only minded for defence.
20th over: Sri Lanka 82-3 (Mathews 37, Dhananjaya 4) Big Ange has been walking at Woakes but stays put against Wood. Nearly gloves a hook to the keeper, too. Gets a single late in the over. Sri Lanka 40 behind.
“Regarding Australia trying desperately to secure that match,” writes Charlie Tinsley of the 2005 finale, “there was also the shameful incident in which Australia tried to hoodwink the umpires into playing on through bad light by flagrantly wearing sunglasses in conditions not unlike those on the far side of the moon.”
Perfidy, Charlie. Let’s not mention the serried ranks of English umbrellas around the ground in Saharan atmospheric aridity.
19th over: Sri Lanka 81-3 (Mathews 36, Dhananjaya 4) Woakes bowling, getting driven by both players. Kumar Sangakkara on comms speaking with some expertise about being a Sri Lankan player having ones fingers pulped against the bat handle on away Test tours. “There is nowhere for the force to dissipate, so it fractures the finger from underneath,” he says, having pondered it with a doctor after Mitchell Johnson busted him up at the MCG in 2012. “I took off the glove and the digit was S-shaped.”
Yuck. Terrible game, cricket. Why does anyone do it?
18th over: Sri Lanka 75-3 (Mathews 33, Dhananjaya 1) Wood nearly knocks over DDS first ball, angling in to smash the pads but tending down the leg side. The SL captain eventually gets a run in that direction to end the over. The score is effectively 75 for 4, can’t see Chandimal returning. He’s supposed to keep wicket in this match too, four catches in the first innnings. Sri Lanka have yet to make England bat again though, still 46 runs short of that.
Dinesh Chandimal retired hurt on 10
Oh, crumbs, Danger Mouse. Just as we speak about how well he’s going, this next ball is ugly. Chandimal might have broken his thumb. It’s Mark Wood, the digit cruncher, who lays a heavy blow on him. Length ball that kicks up at the bat handle and squashes the thumb against the bat handle. The physio comes out to attend to him, but the thumb is visibly swelling even in the time the cameras are on him, and Chandimal can’t control a series of violent shakes through his hand and forearm. He wants to find a way to continue but his body won’t cooperate, and eventually he walks off to be replaced by his captain Dhananjaya de Silva.
17th over: Sri Lanka 74-3 (Mathews 33, Chandimal 10) Chris Woakes comes back looking to add to his early wicket. Chandimal is looking great, 10 from 10 now as he nudges a single to leg.
16th over: Sri Lanka 72-3 (Mathews 32, Chandimal 9) The Sri Lankans deal with Wood competently, Mathews jamming three off his pads.
On that ‘05 Ashes chat from Max earlier, I’ll throw in one contro suggestion that will rile up a few people, which is that the ending to that series might have been a bit drab. It ended up being great for the story of England’s drought ending. But if Australia had tied it up, it would not only have been deflating for England, but I can’t imagine Australians of that era (players or spectators) lost in delirium at retaining a trophy at the last gasp.
They would of course have preferred that to losing, but they had already failed to win the series by then. Thinking back over the flat way that Langer and Hayden ground out runs, and moments like choosing to come off for bad light while desperately needing a win, it felt like the fire of a series on the line wasn’t there for them, because for them the series wasn’t. And Pietersen’s ton is great, but the series ends up in a draw rather than a grandstand finish and a win either way.
So, 2005 has three perfect Tests in the middle, but isn’t a perfect series. Take that.
15th over: Sri Lanka 68-3 (Mathews 29, Chandimal 8) Big Ange loves a straight hit. Considers himself experienced enough to take down the spinners, so after Chandimal gives him strike with a flicked three, Mathews crunches Bashir down the ground for six. Gets off strike, and Chandi takes a similar approach, but doesn’t get the middle as he skews a hit through midwicket for a couple.
14th over: Sri Lanka 57-3 (Mathews 22, Chandimal 4) Dinesh Chandimal in next at 70 runs behind. He’s a very good player, I have strong memories of the double ton he crashed against Australia at Galle last time they visited. Different patch here, but he’s into his work quickly with a single through the leg side and a pull for three, no trouble with Wood’s pace in the early stages.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 52-3 (Karunaratne c Brook b Wood 27)
The bowling change does the trick immediately. Wood’s pace around the wicket angles in at the left-hander, and the former captain can only get an inside edge into his thigh that balloons to slip. Paul Reiffel doesn’t bother signalling until Karunaratne hangs around for a while, but the batter doesn’t challenge the call.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Rob. And we’re straight into the action with a wicket…
13th over: Sri Lanka 52-2 (Karunaratne 27, Mathews 21) Shoaib Bashir, who had one over from the other end after lunch, replaces Chris Woakes (6-2-20-1). His first ball kicks to hit Mathews high on the leg, a promising sign for the rest of the innings.
Kumar Sangakkara thinks Sri Lanka need to target Bashir, though for now they’re playing the ball not the bowler. A single for Mathews brings up the fifty partnership from 66 balls; it’s been a great advert for experience.
With that, it’s time for me to welcome Geoff Lemon back to the OBO bunker. Thanks for your company, see you tomorrow.
12th over: Sri Lanka 50-2 (Karunaratne 26, Mathews 20) Karunaratne, who looks in complete control just now, drives Atkinson between mid-on and midwicket for three more. Still loads to do but the 45 minutes after lunch couldn’t have gone much better for Sri Lanka.
It shouldn’t be long before we see Mark Wood.
11th over: Sri Lanka 44-2 (Karunaratne 22, Mathews 18) Woakes shakes his head in frustration when a ball hits Mathews on the buttock, beats leg slip and runs away for four byes.
“I’m having trouble balancing the top order of my World Workers XI,” writes Ant. “Does anyone know if there’s a verb ‘to Tendulk?’ I’m hoping the weight of runs trumps the obvious grammatical faux-pas.
10th over: Sri Lanka 36-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 15) Atkinson turns Mathews into an S with a nasty delivery that lifts and straightens to hit the back thigh. Too high for an LBW appeal but it was a serious delivery.
This is a really good contest. Karunaratne and Mathews are proper batsmen, with around 15,000 Test runs between them, and they’re scrapping to get Sri Lanka back in the game.
“This game has prompted me to get the excellent book Chinaman: the legend of Pradeep Mathew down off the shelf,” writes Simon Longstaffe. “ Well worth a read if you haven’t.”
I haven’t, for I’m a vulgarian, but I’ve always wanted to and have only heard good things about it.
9th over: Sri Lanka 35-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 14) Close! Mathews turns Woakes just wide of leg slip at catchable height. The ball runs away for four. I’ll be honest, I missed the rest of the over as I was attending to the below. Watch the ball, Robert.
“Oh we’re gonna do this eh?” says Max Williams, dukes up. “Yes, 2005 is peerless. The 2023 Ashes was a ridiculously entertaining series but can a draw ever be a satisfactory result? Especially as the Ashes were gone by the fifth Test – so 20% of the series was kind of a dead rubber. Not entirely dead – 2-2 sure beats 1-3 – but heavily wounded.
“1998 is narrative perfection: England look doomed in the third Test and then win two epic matches. Last wicket escapes, titanic duels, heroic performances, dizzying stakes -and it all went down to the wire. You’ve kinda made my argument for me with your piece on the Headingley decider.
“A caveat: I was 8 during that SA series. I followed it religiously but I can’t pretend to be in a position to offer an informed, dispassionate appraisal. I have some hazy, doubtless rose-tinted memories augmented by YouTube highlights and retrospective articles (thanks again). But I like my stories finished and 2023 feels like someone disfigured the final chapter – while 1998 ended on a high.”
I do love 1998 but 2023 had four classic finishes to 1998’s two. The stakes were higher and it just felt weightier. I take your point about the draw but the series was… if not a winning draw then at least a fulfilling draw.
You’re right about the narrative perfection, and there was a classic intro from Tim de Lisle in the Almanack. I guess you could argue the opposite – that the Old Trafford rain made for a more nuanced, bittersweet narrative. The lovely thing is that we can see the same two series through slightly different eyes, and there’s no right or wrong. Well, most of the time.
8th over: Sri Lanka 30-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 9) Karunaratne edges a good one from Atkinson for four. His Fairy Liquid hands ensured it wouldn’t have carried anyway.
He tenses those hands to thump a short, wide ball through point for four. Sri Lanka needed to start with authority after lunch; they’ve done so.
7th over: Sri Lanka 22-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) “Looking at Woakes’ stats after his wicket before lunch,” says ames Brough. “At home, he has 128 wickets at 21.45. Away, he has 36 wickets at 51.88. This provokes a couple of questions. Do any other bowlers have a comparable record in England? And is there anyone else with such a disparity between home and away?”
His record in England is the best since Fred Trueman, of those with 100 wickets. Our great lost talent, Ollie Robinson, has 50 at 20.26. As for the disparity, it’s extremely rare for it to be that pronounced.
The Sky commentator Mark Butcher is 52 today. Between overs, Mel Jones does a glorious number on him, talking the viewers through photos of Butch as a kid, player and commentator. Then he is presented a long, rectangular, slightly phallic birthday cake. “Thank you,” says Butch. “It looks like, well it looks like something…”
It was funnier than I’m making it sound, hopefully they’ll put it on online in a bit.
6th over: Sri Lanka 22-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) The Bashir experiment lasted only one over. Gus Atkinson replaces him, with the Sky commentators noticing that his average speeds have been down in this game. He’s still bowled pretty well, though, and he got Karunaratne with the short ball in the first innings. It’ll be coming again soon, but he keeps it in the locker for now.
“I have an idea who might keep wicket in the world workers XI,” says Paul Griffin. I understand Nari Contractor been controversially omitted because he is not permanent. Furious.”
5th over: Sri Lanka 21-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) Karunaratne drives Woakes handsomely through mid-off for four. He’s such a good player; in the last five years he has the most runs of any Test opener: 2597 at 50.92. Of those who have opened in more than five innings, only Yashasvi Jaiswal has a higher average.
Karunaratne is not out It was missing, in fact, so England lose a review. Not the greatest piece of captaincy from Pope, because I think Jamie Smith said it looked high.
“Pope now – third reviews, all wrong,” spits Nasser. There’s a pause before he and Mark Butcher suddenly start giggling. “That came out all wrong!” says Nasser.
England review for LBW Woakes has a big shout turned down when Karunaratne pushes around a snarling nipbacker. Pope reviews even though it looked high. I think this will be umpire’s call at best for England and therefore not out.
4th over: Sri Lanka 16-2 (Karunaratne 9, Mathews 7) A loosener from Bashir is driven through mid-on for four by Karunaratne. England have an attacking field – slip, leg slip and silly point – and Bashir finds his length for the rest of the over.
Hello again. The players are back out and Shoaib Bashir is coming on in place of Gus Atkinson, who bowled a lamentable spell of 1-0-4-1.
Jamie Smith’s century aside, the highlight of the morning session was arguably – yep – a crowd catch.
Lunch: Sri Lanka trail by 112
Mike Atherton’s analogy of the Test match as arm wrestle was summed up by the morning session. Sri Lanka, so competitive on the first two days, succumbed to England and will do well to take this game into a fourth day.
Jamie Smith made a thrillingly assured 111 to give England a lead of 122, then Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson each struck in their first over. Sri Lanka aren’t out of it – they were in a not dissimilar position in their glorious win at Headingley 10 years ago – but they can’t afford to lose any mor wickets to the new ball.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 10-2 (Karunaratne 4, Mathews 6) An unthreatening final over before lunch. Mathews walks down the track to negate Woakes’ swing, pushing three runs down the ground with the aid of a misfield. Karunaratne works off the hip for two and then one.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 4-2 (Karunaratne 1, Mathews 3) Angelo Mathews gets off a pair by clouting his first ball through mid-off for three. If he can make 160 from 249 balls, anything’s possible.
“The occupational XI for Australia are, as you might imagine, no slouches either,” says Geoffrey Smith. “(Ron Archer wasn’t a familiar name to me, but he seems to have been very highly thought of…)
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Mark Taylor
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Michael Slater
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Steve Smith
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Michael Clarke
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Bob Cowper
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Keith Miller
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Greg Dyer
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Ron Archer
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Max Walker
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Herbert Ironmonger
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Terry Alderman
Oh yes he was apparently a fine player; had to retire very young because of injury I think. That’s a helluva team. I was going to say the bowling is slightly weak but then I was reminded of the fella at No6. Imagine him harassing you with the new ball at one end while Alderman hypnotised you from the other.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 1-2 (Kusal c Smith b Atkinson 0)
This is outstanding from England. Gus Atkinson gets Kusal Mendis with an excellent delivery, fullish and cutting back just enough to take the edge as Kusal pushes tentatively. Jamie Smith embroiders his morning with a very good low catch.
1st over: Sri Lanka 0-1 (Karunaratne 0, Kusal 0) A wicket maiden finishes with a beauty that beats the new batter Kusal Mendis. This game will be done today if Woakes carries on like that: it was an outstanding first over.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 0-1 (Madushka b Woakes 0)
Sri Lanka’s morning goes from abysmal to even worse. Madushka has been bowled third ball, offering no stroke to a nipbacker from Woakes. It was a cracking delivery, mind; Woakes is close to the top of his game at the moment.
Chris Woakes is about to open the bowling. Lunch is at 1.15, so we should get three overs in.
An exchange on Sky Sports just now
Mel Jones You’ve had your eye on Sri Lanka this morning, Nasser, what did you make of them?
Nasser Hussain Not a lot, to be honest.
The greatest crowd catch ever
“That crowd catch deserves a full commentary on its own,” says Mark Hooper. “It should be shown from all angles and studied in school.”
I can hear Nasser’s commentary in my mind’s ear: ‘No! No way! You cannot do that whatever your name is!’
Jamie Smith is back on the field practising his keeping. Presumably there is an extended morning session, to make up some of the time lost yesterday, because it should be lunch.
England lead by 122 runs, thanks mainly to a terrific 111 from Jamie Smith. Bashir aside, the lower order all made valuable contributions, with Woakes, Atkinson, Potts and Wood scoring 84 between them. Sri Lanka let themselves down this morning: they made a half-arsed start and were playing catch up from the off.
WICKET! England 358 all out (Potts c Kamindu b Vishwa 17)
Potts ramps Vishwa for four before clothing a pull to Kamindu Mendis, running in from deep square to take a good catch.
85th over: England 354-9 (Potts 13, Bashir 3) Bashir, who spoke yesterday about his desire to improve his batting, has started pretty well. A quiet over from Asitha; one from it.
England lead by 118.