Second Test, England vs Sri Lanka, Lord's, 3-7 June 2011: Player reviews

England

Andrew Strauss: Just four runs in the match for Strauss whose middling form is starting to attract attention. He was undone both times by the left-arm seam of Welegedara, which will not have gone unnoticed by a certain Mr D Fletcher, with Zaheer Khan set to arrive in England in the coming weeks. Too early for this to be called a crisis but an average of just over 30 since last summer tells its own story. Captaincy wise, he must have been frustrated by his bowlers' tendency to bowl on both sides of the wicket in Sri Lanka's first innings, and he also attracted criticism for allowing the tenth wicket pair of Tremlett and Finn to bat on for half an hour on Saturday when a declaration would have left the tourists' openers with an awkward 20 minutes to face before lunch.

Alastair Cook: Relentlessly marches on towards his seemingly inexorable fate of becoming England's record holder for all things batting. Played an uncharacteristically loose pull shot to be dismissed for 96 first time around (one can only wonder what the reaction would have been had Kevin Pietersen done the same) but simply got on with the task again in the second innings and after Strauss' second ball dismissal, played with great authority. His scoring rate before lunch on the final day was criticised, but you simply can't tell a man like Cook to totally change his style; he'll never be a dasher any more than Katy Perry will ever learn to sing in key. Dropped a simple chance at third slip which cost England 52 runs; he still doesn't exude confidence there. Work to be done in that area if not at the crease.

Jonathan Trott: The reaction to his first innings dismissal of 2 was sheer disbelief; it simply couldn't be true that the run automaton had fallen cheaply. In the second innings he once more teamed up with Cook to form a formidable partnership and showed with his strike rate of over 70 that he's not a one-dimensional stodgy player. Even managed to pick up a late wicket although the game was all but dead by then.

Kevin Pietersen: Welcome back, KP. Eventually. He played yet another poorly executed stroke to be caught at gully on the opening day to leave England 22/3, a veritable crisis compared with the general scheme of things over the last 18 months. However, he appeared with steely determination on Monday evening and after a circumspect start, played a classic KP drive down the ground off Herath to just re-assert some of that familair authority. He batted nicely - and quickly - on the final day and though yet again it was the left arm spinner to dismiss him, it was a ball which would have beaten any batsman on any day. He'll hope to build on this and make a really big score at Southampton.

Ian Bell: The feats of Messrs Cook and Trott have overshadowed what a superb international cricketer Bell has become. He played two distinct innings; the first, all about consolidation after a poor start had England severely wobbling, and though not his most fluent, he put the foundations in place for the revival. The second was Bell at his most inventive. A truly magnificent unbeaten half-century which pushed the pace of the game as England built towards a declaration. He still feels wasted at five in this form.

Eoin Morgan: Had little chance to shine at Cardiff but emphatically did so on his home ground. Showed good awareness of his off stump to the seamers and dominated against the spinners. If his place wasn't secure for the India series before, it clearly is now. He will face more testing bowling attacks but the signs were good. Runs against Dilhara Fernando count the same as those against Dale Steyn, after all.

Matt Prior: A real shame that his excellent century has been overshadowed by WindowGate, though this tells you more about our media (and indeed the ICC, for officially reprimanding him, as if they have nothing better to do) than the seriousness of the "offence". This was a classic Prior innings, fast scoring, taking the game away from the opposition, brutal through the offside, though it must be said that Sri Lanka were more than obliging in feeding his strengths. Rode his luck through the 90s, but he won't worry about that. Plenty of byes conceded, but that was down to wayward bowling and the unique Lord's conditions rather than any fundamental keeping errors.

Stuart Broad: Unflattering figures once more for Broad who still doesn't totally convince with the ball. He was full of effort and purpose, but ultimately looked fairly innocuous and match figures of 2-154 are testament to the ease with which he was often played. Batted splendidly for his 54 in the first innings; just as well, or England's latest captain could have found himself on the outside looking in when Bresnan and Anderson return.

Graeme Swann: A rare quiet match for Swann who struggled to find much assistance from the pitch, though he did manage to burgle a few wickets towards the end of the Sri Lankan first innings. Even the best can't do it all the time.

Chris Tremlett: Bowled too short too often, so for the most part was economical rather than threatening. It's easy to forget that he's still a work in progress (this was only his eighth Test) and you would hope he would learn from this. Slightly disconcerting though that he seems to need to be told to vary his length rather than working it out for himself, though he's not alone here. Batted nicely for his unbeaten 24; he's no mug batting at ten.

Steven Finn: Reports that Tina Turner is considering a working of 1995's "Goldenye" to "Goldenarm" in honour of the young Middlesex man are unconfirmed, but he seems to have the uncanny knack of picking up wickets when not bowling well. He was far too erratic in virtually all of his spells, regularly spraying the ball down the legside and failing to build pressure. Yet he became the youngest Englishman in history to reach 50 Test wickets; no mean feat. However, should Anderson prove his fitness, one would imagine that he will be the one to miss out at The Rose Bowl.

Sri Lanka

Tharanga Paranavitana: At times, evokes memories of the Bangladeshi opener Javed Omar; dogged, but strokeless. He was fortunate not to be out early on in the first innings on various occasions as ball regularly beat bat and he was put down by Cook, but he battled through to build a solid opening partnership with his captain. Played similarly well in the second innings and helped push the spectre of Cardiff (Sri Lanka's Adelaide?) to one side. He'll never be fun to watch, but he's the yin to Dilshan's yang.

Tillekeratne Dilshan: A stunning innings, utterly unconventional, at times downright reckless, but ultimately a huge success. His 193 deflated the England attack and had he not received yet another blow to the thumb from a rising Tremlett delivery, there's every chance he'd have gone on to a double century and beyond. However, that injury will keep him out of the remainder of the series and Sri Lanka's loss is also cricket's loss. Question marks remain over his captaincy; an oft-used phrase in cricketing parlance is "keeping the foot on the throat" - Dilshan failed here, it's not good enough to insert a team, have them 22/3 in the first hour and allow them to score nigh on 500.

Kumar Sangakkara: His poor record in England inexplicably continues. Never looked at ease, especially when pressed into service as an emergency opener in Dilshan's absence and to be caught at cover is quite the sin for a top order batsman. Intriguingly, was much more inventive and indeed showed much better body language when captaining the team, and one would think that he'll be asked to reprise the role in the final Test.

Mahela Jayawardene: A middling match for another former skipper who missed out on the chance to make a third appearance on the Lord's honours board. Dare we suggest that at 34, we've seen his best days? The sense of permanence you often get from him hasn't seemed to be there so far on this tour.

Thilan Samaraweera: Just 26 runs in the match (albeit unbeaten in the second innings) and his record in non-subcontinental conditions remains decidedly mediocre. We've speculated that he's the worst batsman to ever average 50+ in Test cricket; we've seen nothing yet to dispel that statement.

Prassanna Jayawardene: Tidy with the bat, tidy with the gloves. None of the ultimately futile Cardiff heroics and it still could be that he's a place too high in the order, but he's a proper cricketer.

Farveez Maharoof: Two runs and no wickets. Not really what you're looking for from your all-rounder. He's only in the side because Angelo Mathews is absent, but he's so demonstrably inadequate for Test cricket that you wonder why Sri Lanka recalled him.

Rangana Herath: In what is an anodyne attack, Herath did at least produce the ball of the match to dismiss Pietersen. His bowling is comparable to that of Ashley Giles, primarily defensive but capable of the odd bit of magic. His batting is comparable to a young Darren Gough, full of wild swishes and ludicrous follow-throughs, but fun. Taking over the reins from Muttiah Muralitharan is an unenviable task, but he's approaching it manfully enough.

Dilhara Fernando: On both occasions used as second change, odd for the man who is easily the quickest of the Sri Lankan seamers. He does hit the gloves hard, but he was erratic and fed Morgan and Prior with too many cheap runs. Could certainly do with hitting the treadmill between now and next Thursday; he's carrying more timber than a lumberjack.

Suranga Lakmal: Expensive and bowled far too wide on the first morning; one can only imagine that the lbw dismissals of Trott and Morgan were purely due to their surprise that he'd bowled one straight - the Mitchell Johnson principle, if you will. He's a young man learning his game, but he has a lot of learning to do.

Chanaka Welegedara: We saw little in the way of his supposed ability to swing the ball, but he was steady enough and five wickets in a high-scoring game isn't to be sniffed at. Does at least provide some variety to the attack and on this showing, it seems all the more odd that he was omitted at Cardiff. The experiment with bowling round the wicket to left-handers should be abandoned, though.

England v Sri Lanka, First Test - Player Reviews

England

Andrew Strauss A quiet match with the bat for the skipper as he was undone by a rare threatening ball from Lakmal. Barring one sharp drop off Swann, his slip fielding was as exemplary as ever and his captaincy equally so; allowing Bell to make his century avoided any loss of morale and a sustained attack helped gain the most unlikely of victories.

Alastair Cook Gone is the player of twelve months ago who relentlessly fiddled outside off-stump. His century was as good as chanceless and the presence he now offers at the top of the order is more reassuring than the price of Stella Artois. Took the catch that sealed the match.

Jonathan Trott Quite simply a run-scoring machine. Attracted some ridiculous criticism for his scoring rate on day four but asking Trott to change his style is like asking Status Quo if they wouldn't mind adding in a couple of extra chords to their repertoire. His average is now approaching freakish proportions. Ran out Maharoof fortuitously off his own bowling.

Kevin Pietersen Well well. KP dismissed by unheralded left-arm spinner. It isn't all that simple; even with the benefit of technology, it took five full minutes for him to be given out and the ball did keep horribly low. However, his body position and approach to this most filthy style of bowling are well out of kilter. There's no question of him losing his place - yet - but it's an issue he has to deal with quickly. In 19 out of his last 61 Test innings, it's the cursed left arm tweakers who've removed him. We're being generous here and including Xavier Doherty in that.

Ian Bell The form of his career continues with another excellently compiled century, and how nice that he was allowed to complete the job before England's declaration. If we were saying he was wasted at six in Australia - is he wasted at five now? Also cemented his reputation as one of the world's best fielders at short leg.

Eoin Morgan We learned nothing about him. He isn't great in the field, he doesn't bowl and his innings of 14 off 19 tells us little. His time to shine, or otherwise, will come.

Matt Prior Tidy behind the stumps including a sharp catch off Swann in the second innings. Didn't bat.

Stuart Broad Looked as ring-rusty as you would expect of a man who has played precious little cricket over the last six months. Improved steadily and wrapped up the tail in convincing and hostile fashion. Question marks still remain over a man who takes his wickets at around 35 apiece, but they're really for another day.

Graeme Swann The world's best spinner showed once again that even on unresponsive tracks, he offers control and a genuine wicket taking threat. At one stage he had the incredible figures of 4-0-4-4. A world class performer who will be licking his lips at the further prospect of bowling at this brittle Sri Lankan line-up.

Chris Tremlett Beginning to secure his place as a bona fide England regular. Bowled well with little luck in the first innings, but was truly devastating when Sri Lanka came out to bat what they surely would have felt would be a routine net through 51 overs. They were wrong. Is also beginning to show that he isn't just a bang it in short merchant - his fuller length, as shown with Paranavitana's second innings dismissal, is equally dangerous.

James Anderson Bowled beautifully early on but was cruelly sidelined by a minor side strain. He'll miss Lord's and most likely the Rose Bowl, not necessarily a bad thing as the important thing is to have him fit and raring to go against the Indian top order.

Sri Lanka

Tharanga Paranavitana Played a methodical innings first up against some challenging bowling from Anderson and Tremlett which indicates that he has the right temperament for Test cricket. Like so many, looked ill at ease from the off on the final day and was out for a duck, which set the tone for the eventual collapse.

Tillekeratne Dilshan A poor game for the new skipper. Threw away his wicket in the first innings when well set, then his captaincy was a litany of confusion. Mendis was barely used, he brought himself on as first change, and wasted the second new ball by bowling Herath over the wicket to the right handers. Then wasted a referral by reviewing his own dismissal in the second innings when he'd manifestly hit the ball. Big improvements required all round.

Kumar Sangakkara A modern great had a very disappointing game. Possibly unfortunate to be ruled out under the UDRS in the first innings - he almost certainly *did* hit the ball, but the supporting evidence available was flimsy. His body language in the field wasn't the best and was comprehensively undone by Swann as all around him was falling. Sri Lanka need him to return to form, quickly.

Mahela Jayawardene Still an exceptional slip fielder, but was given a real working over by first Anderson, and secondly Tremlett to be dismissed cheaply both times. Both he and Sangakkara could well be suffering from difficulties in re-adjusting to the red ball format after a prolonged IPL spell.

Thilan Samaraweera Looked composed for his 58 before falling to Anderson's first over with the second new ball, wiping out his previous dismal record in England. Clearly has talent but his attempted cut to Swann, given the match situation, was faintly ludicrous.

Prassanna Jayawardene A very well made century against testing bowling helped partially dispel the theory that he has been promoted beyond his abilities at number six. With such a long tail, Sri Lanka will need big contributions from him with the bat if they are to salvage anything from this series. Looked competent behind the stumps although little was offered in the way of chances thanks to an anodyne attack. In the second innings, suffered a similar fate to Sangakkara in the first innings - a UDRS decision that was almost certainly correct, but not necessarily arrived upon satisfactorily.

Farveez Maharoof The cult-hero of Lancashire's early season looked every inch the journeyman county pro. Little more than medium pace, poor in the field (one "slide tackle" attempt to stop a boundary was laughable) and contributed little with the bat, though he was unfortunate to be run out backing up first time around. It seemed fairly clear just why he hasn't played Test cricket for nearly four years.

Thisara Parera Willing but wicketless, Parera is the epitome of this limited and unthreatening seam attack. Could be vulnerable to the returning Dilhara Fernando at Lord's. Did at least show some resistance with the bat in both innings, which may just save him.

Rangana Herath Failed to impress in a spell at Hampshire last season and again, it was clear why. His brand of left-arm spin is most easily comparable to the phalanx of twirlers that Bangladesh habitually field, though predictably enough, he did dismiss Kevin Pietersen. Played a truly horrible shot as the second innings came towards its close.

Ajantha Mendis The "mystery spinner" is only a mystery because it's hard to work out why he was selected in the first place. Short on form in a brief spell at Somerset, he picked up the solitary wicket of injured nightwatchman Anderson and rarely turned the ball, and was used for a mere three overs on day four.

Suranga Lakmal Just a solitary wicket for the young seamer who did little to convince that he is a viable option at this level.