England v Sri Lanka: third men’s cricket Test match, day two – live | England v Sri Lanka 2024

21st over: Sri Lanka 120-5 (Dhananjaya 11, Kamindu 18) You often hear the rule-of-thumb about four shadows being made by the fielders and that’s certainly the case for Stone – he best make the most of this before it’s spin from both ends. Just about the shot of the day from Dhananjaya, nailing an on-drive past the bowlers’ boots. Excellent. Three more to finish via the bat of Kamindu, a well-timed clip towards the gas holder.

Between overs, the umpires pull out their light meters. Nasser Hussain makes the very reasonable point that if we’re playing Test cricket in September (which I have no concerns with – look at when the 2005 Ashes ended), then it has to be with play beginning at 10:30am. The probability of us playing at 7pm tonight, when the final over must start, is so slim. Had we gotten away at 10:30am (or indeed, 10am as would be the case when adding on time from the day before in most places), we’re far better placed.

20th over: Sri Lanka 112-5 (Dhananjaya 6, Kamindu 15) Hull gets a fifth over with still a packed cordon behind Dhananjaya. But the Sri Lankan captain gets off strike first ball with a tuck. Kamindu picks the right ball to turn in that direction too, for a couple.

19th over: Sri Lanka 109-5 (Dhananjaya 5, Kamindu 13) The umps allow Stone to continue off his long run, away from me at the Vauxhall End. It’s just the over Sri Lanka needed to get things going back in their direction, with Kamindu playing a tremendous cover drive – he’s some player, this guy. He follows that up with four more through cover point, then a further picture-perfect cover drive to finish. Really lovely batting.

“Dear Adam.” Hi, Gary Nichol. “To join the conversation on fitness of light for cricket, I write as a qualified umpire for recreational cricket in England and Scotland with some knowledge of ICC regulations. We (that is, all cricket below professional cricket in England and Scotland) have guidance on assessing the fitness of the ground, weather and light written by ECB partly in response to a court case. The principle is simple: it’s either fit for cricket (in which case, play on as normal) or it is not (in which case, stop the game). We, as umpires, cannot tell captains they can only bowl spin (as this is a tacit admission that the light is not good enough), nor can we, say, tell captains that fast bowlers must run off a short run to avoid wet ground on a runup (if it’s too wet for a bowler surely it’s too wet for a fielder who might need to run over to field the ball).

None of that applies at the professional level. As we have seen, captains are given the option of bowling slow bowlers ostensibly to keep the game moving for the paying crowd (and the rest of the money associated with the game, “stakeholders” as those who speak that sort of language say), but it leads to quite ridiculous scenarios.

Personally, I feel a Test in September ought to be played with a pink ball and floodlights used as and when needed, which essentially eliminates bad light as a reason to stop the game.”

For the first time today (sorry, it won’t be the last), I will advance the case I’ve been making since 2018. In short, when bad light becomes a factor in a Test Match where there ground is using proper floodlights, then whip out a pink ball until the close. As Daniel Norcross said (ranted) on The Final Word last night, yes there’ll be arguments that this isn’t fair for the batting team. But that’s the game, right? There are plenty of instances where one factor will change and one side will feel hard done by. Do it!

18th over: Sri Lanka 97-5 (Dhananjaya 5, Kamindu 1) Dare I mention the fact that it is getting darker again at The Oval? I was keen to see more Chris Woakes off-breaks, so we dare to dream. Didn’t get his back hip through it, did he? I want more. As Hull begins a new over, Ian Ward ponders whether the new man has some decent left-arm orthodox to turn to if the umpires get the light meter out mid-over. Anyway, it’s Dhananjaya with a clipped single and Kamindu with a steer. The captain gets two more to backward square to finish. I’d be surprised if we don’t see spin (instructed by the umpires) soon.

17th over: Sri Lanka 93-5 (Dhananjaya 2, Kamindu 0) The left-handed Kamindu Mendis has enjoyed a superb start to his career and once again his runs are urgent down at No7. Stone, who has done so much right since returning to the team last week, immediately goes around the wicket to him, and bowling with a head of steam after taking two wickets in his first eight balls, he locates an inside edge first ball that’s ever so close to ballooning back onto the stumps, but the new man whacks it away with his bat. Close call – had he gone for that with his glove, it would’ve been trouble. Wicket maiden.

WICKET! Chandimal lbw b Stone 2 (Sri Lanka 93-5)

CHANDIMAL GIVEN LBW! He reviews. Upstairs we go. Has Stone got another?

16th over: Sri Lanka 93-4 (Chandimal 0, Dhananjaya 2). Not for the first time in this series, the visiting skipper Dhananjaya de Silva is walking out after a clump of quick wickets. The wicket-taking delivery was a ball that moved away just a tad, enough to tempt Nissanka. Earlier in the over he’d been smashed when full and straight then sent down a wide when missing his bumper. He now ends his third over with a Test wicket. The Sri Lankan captain is away with a couple through cover – nicely played.

WICKET! Nissanka c Woakes b Hull 64 (Sri Lanka 91-4)

15th over: Sri Lanka 86-3 (Nissanka 60, Chandimal 0). Line and length from Stone to Chandimal, knocking them both on the head. Just as it was at Lord’s in second dig last Saturday, the Notts quick has picked up a wicket in his first over. Great stuff.

Drinks

Right, that’s all from me . Thanks as always for your company and emails; Adam Collins is your man for the rest of the day.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 86-3 (Mathews c Pope b Stone 3)

14th over: Sri Lanka 83-2 (Nissanka 57, Mathews 3) A poor ball from Hull, short and wide, is slapped through point for four by Nissanka. He’s played some terrific shots, but they have also been fairly low-risk which tells you that England have been unusually loose.

Hull continues to bowl some dangerous inswingers; it’s easy to see why England are so excited about him.

“Wanted to reflect a bit on the sad news that Mark Wood is out of the winter tour,” says James Butler. “I’m probably swimming against the tide a bit but I felt that all the focus on his (amazing) speed earlier this summer was all a bit, for want of a better word, ‘macho’. Here’s a guy who’s 34 with a long list of injuries and everyone is egging him on to bowl as fast as humanly possible. What’s more that tactic, although magnificent theatre, ‘only’ yielded nine wickets.

“Was that really the right approach from England? I guess it’s hard to tell someone to dial the pace down – especially when it’s their main asset – but just wonder if there was an alternative plan that might have kept him on the field…”

I know what you mean but I’d be loath to blame England, except for maybe one Test (I forget which one) when he bowled too many overs on possibly the second day. I also think his wickets tally is irrelevant because he deserved to take twice as many. Ultimately, Wood is pathologically incapable of bowling within himself, and his extraordinary pace is what elevates him from pretty good to almost great. I think we have to accept the injuries, especially now that he’s in his mid-thirties, and enjoy every last spell wee from a uniquely uplifting cricketer.

13th over: Sri Lanka 77-2 (Nissanka 52, Mathews 2) This looks a perfectly good pitch. Almost all of the movement has been down to the overhead conditions, so if the sun comes out Sri Lanka really should be looking to take a first-innings lead.

12th over: Sri Lanka 76-2 (Nissanka 52, Mathews 1) Josh Hull’s first over in Test cricket is very promising, with some seductive inswing to the right-handers. Nissanka thumps one slightly errant delivery through mid-off for four to reach a very assured 40-ball fifty, then inside-edges another inducker for a single. A good start from Hull, whose pace was around 85mph.

“I think my ire is that the light reading is plainly misjudged,” says Gary Naylor. “It was safe to play last evening and it was safe to play on today. I’m no expert on risk assessment, but I’m not sure the umpires are either, or they would publish their criteria and their readings. The shame is that the marginal risk is so tiny and yet the authorities are happy to stick to a convention about taking a reading once and sticking to it – in September. So marginal, that two minutes later it was safe again.

“I do take your point, of course and I know you’ll be getting pelters for it to which I do not wish to add, but I’ve seen so much cricket played in worse light – every ball of Botham’s 118 at Old Trafford in 1981 for example.”

Do you think the death of Philip Hughes, even though it had nothing to do with bad light, has made umpires and cricket boards more cautious? If so I can understand that. I’m also loath to criticise a process that I don’t know anything about. Clearly there are times when people do take the pith. I remember once, doing the OBO back in the early 2000s, when the only TV sports channel we had mysteriously switched to the 4.20 at Kempton. The moment the race was finished, back came the cricket. It was fairly clear that someone in Building Services had a monkey each way on Dragonfly. But I knew enough about the process, just about, to draw that conclusion. The bad-light regulations may well be flawed, but I don’t see how any of us are in a position to say with certainty.

11th over: Sri Lanka 70-1 (Nissanka 47, Mathews 0) Woakes has unusual figures, certainly for him: 6-0-40-1.

Now then: Josh Hull is coming on.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 70-2 (Kusal c Brook b Woakes 14)

10th over: Sri Lanka 61-1 (Nissanka 42, Kusal 10) Nissanka stands tall to punch Atkinson square on the off side for four. That’s an extremely good stroke.

Atkinson replies with a cracking yorker that is dug out by Nissanka. Atkinson appeals, thinking it might have hit the toe first, but Ollie Pope – conscious of his poor DRS record – isn’t interested in a review. Nothing on the replay suggests it hit the boot, through we haven’t seen UltraEdge.

Mendis uppercuts for four more to push the run rate above six an over. England are having a bit of an end-of-term stinker today.

“England…” says Neil Jones. “The Competitive Dad of the world game.”

Aren’t they the opposite? They’re usually hopeless at whitewashing weaker opponents.

9th over: Sri Lanka 52-1 (Nissanka 37, Kusal 6) Kusal Mendis rolls the wrists to clip Woakes beautifully for four. He’s a dangerous player, particularly in lower-scoring games because he scores quickly and knows how to go big: six of his nine Test hundreds are 140 or more.

Woakes replies with a fine delivery that bounces and seams to beat the edge. That’s a jaffa.

“People are paying £100+ a seat for this,” says Gary Naylor. “ECB should be ashamed.”

No, Gary. Shame is an emotion that you deserve to feel when you’re me. But seriously, while it was a bit of a farce, surely it stemmed from the perfectly reasonable principle of having a light reading that is safe. Were we always this intolerant or has the internet turned us all into Donald Trump?

8th over: Sri Lanka 48-1 (Nissanka 37, Kusal 2) Nissanka may have been at fault for the run out but he’s batting superbly. A flick for four off Atkinson and a single take him to 37 from just 29 balls.

“I have to say that some of the criticisms smack of the same malaise that plagues England football supporters – they’re not there and never will be good enough to be there,” writes David Hilmy. “You don’t know what players have been directed to do, you don’t know what their mindset is, you don’t understand the thrill or the nerves or the pressure of having the privilege of playing international Test cricket, you don’t know the on-field conditions at the exact time a ball is bowled, you just don’t.

Why not have a swing, why not try something different? The players have earned the right to do that, to be the athletes they are warts and all. If mistakes or poor decisions or the occasional rush of blood were excluded, we wouldn’t call cricket a sport – same for football, rugby, or quidditch…ffs!”

That’s a very persuasive theory. I’ve always focussed on the entitlement and lack of empathy (and I include myself in that, because I’ve written and spoken some awful nonsense over the years) rather than ignorance of the actual process.

7th over: Sri Lanka 40-1 (Nissanka 30, Kusal 1) Breaking news: Chris Woakes won’t be going to Pakistan as a spin option. A couple of filthy deliveries are pulled for a single and then a boundary. This is amusing but also mildly farcical. Surely, in the circumstances, England should be allowed to use a spinner for the last four balls of the over as they would if Woakes went off injured?

And now the light has improved marginally, so Gus Atkinson can bowl. All very weird.

The umpires have decided the light isn’t good enough for the seamers to bowl. Trouble is, Chris Woakes has delivered two balls of his fourth over. So now he’s going to bowl offspin! “His nickname’s The Wizard because he’s brilliant at everything,” says Mike Atherton. “Now we’ll see how good his offspin is.”

Imagine if takes a wicket.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 34-1 (Karunaratne run out 9)

6th over: Sri Lanka 34-0 (Nissanka 25, Karunaratne 9) Karunaratne tries to drive Atkinson and is beaten, then clips confidently through midwicket for three. England still have a very attacking field, hence all these scoring opportunities.

“I know it’s an obvious consequence of run rates approaching 5 an over, but it really does help to minimise the impact of the second new ball (if you get that far),” says Brian Withington. “I am old enough to recall series in the 80s against a quartet of WI fast bowlers where it felt like England rarely averaged three an over. Many was the innings where England might have gamely progressed to the low 200s for 3/4/5 only to be obliterated by the second coming. And another (related) thing – how often were the WI last four or five wickets so much more productive than England’s. I leave the statistical detail to others …”

That was also the case in the Ashes between 1989 and 2002-03. I remember Lawrence Booth doing a statistical review of one series, possibly 2001, which showed the teams were basically equal until they were five down. And then came Gilchrist. But it wasn’t just him: there were damaging 70s from bowlers like Geoff Lawson, Damien Fleming, even Merv.

5th over: Sri Lanka 27-0 (Nissanka 21, Karunaratne 6) Nissanka bat-pads Woakes in the air but comfortably wide of short leg. The resulting single takes him to 21, then Karunaratne gets off the mark next ball.

Sri Lanka have started very comfortably, with not much movement for the England bowlers, and Karunaratne feels secure enough to time a beautiful off drive for four.

Maybe the ball will swing more when the lacquer comes off; for now Sri Lanka are on top and England’s pre-lunch slogathon isn’t looking quite so harmless. Long way to go.

4th over: Sri Lanka 20-0 (Nissanka 20, Karunaratne 0) Atkinson bursts one from a length to beat Nissanka all ends up. That’s a cracking delivery, and it’s noticeable that his speed is up around 90mph. It was down earlier in the series.

“I sent a message to a friend this morning with a link to Flintoff presenting Josh Hull with his England cap,” says James Brough. “I also said, ‘If he’s not England head coach in 10 years, I’ll be surprised’ My mystic powers seem to be doing pretty well today.”

Interesting. I’d be surprised if he ever became head coach – I’m not sure that role suits him, certainly not as well as his new job. It’s just an instinct, though, I have no basis for saying that.

3rd over: Sri Lanka 19-0 (Nissanka 19, Karunaratne 0) Nissanka has the ability to be a long-term opener for Sri Lanka, and he has started well here. A deft touch wide of leg gully brings him his second boundary; then he thick edges a good delivery for four more.

Woakes feels like the key bowler in these conditions, but that was an expensive over – 13 from it after Nissanka drives the last ball stylishly for three off the back foot.

2nd over: Sri Lanka 6-0 (Nissanka 6, Karunaratne 0) Atkinson’s first ball is a nasty lifter that Nissanka does really well to glove on the bounce to second slip. It kicks up to hit Duckett in the side of the face. That could have been nasty, but he seems to be okay.

Nissanka larrups a cut for four later in the over, a terrific shot. England have eight men in catching positions – four slips, a gully, leg gully and short leg – so there should scoring opportunities.

“I’m unsurprised if a tad dismayed by the criticism of Duckett for ‘only’ getting into the mid 80s. Pope apart, he outscored his other nine teammates – plus extras – combined. If he was the main problem, England would be well served indeed.”

I can understand some of the criticism, and I thought England batted poorly this morning. It’s the tone of some of that criticism – entitled, an empathy void – that makes me want to go off-grid for the next 40 years. Nobody is going to sit on their death bed and say, ‘Cor, I wish Ben Duckett hadn’t played that last ramp shot at The Oval.’

Gus Atkinson, hunting his 34th wicket of the Test summer, will bowl the first over after lunch.

“Another interpretation of events is that England haven’t respected the conditions or the opposition this morning,” writes Jonathan. “But the prevalent belief is that Stokesy (Popey) can do no wrong, whatever the outcome of their actions, so all is well.”

I’d argue that’s needlessly passive-aggressive. Your interpretation is entirely reasonable, as is my perception that human beings sometimes make mistakes. So we’re both right.

Lunchtime reading (optional)

“I think this expectation of Pope to be infallible is a little unrealistic,” says Paul Griffin. “But on the subject of lucky knocks, Lara’s 501 was easily the flukiest cinquecento I can recall.”

“Just arrived in Edinburgh for the third T20I between Scotland and Australia at The Grange,” writes Simon McMahon. “It’s dreich, and am crossing my fingers that we make the scheduled 2pm start. I think Scotland’s best chance to avoid a third straight drubbing is for the Aussies to have been out on the lash last night, or for them to be so cold that they can’t feel their fingers. I think I feel a bit like England supporters must have in the 90s.”

Lunch

The TMS overseas link is here. Sorry, forgot to post it earlier.

The players are back on the field. There will be a single over before lunch, bowled by Shoaib Bashir Chris Woakes.

Well in, Fred. What a perfect job that is for him.

“Duckett’s knock yesterday was immense,” says Iain Chambers, “but surely with just a smidgen more control he could’ve added another 30-40 runs in anticipation of this morning’s trickier conditions/Sri Lanka finally locating some luck.”

But with a smidgen more control he wouldn’t have scored 80-odd, or stolen Sri Lanka’s advantage at the toss within half an hour. The miracle of this England team, in my endearingly humble opinion, is how relatively few mistakes they make given such a risky approach. They’re only the third best team in the world, it’s true, but watching them makes me feel about 20 years younger.

There should be time for one over before lunch, which has been pushed back to 1.15pm to make up some of yesterday’s lost time. Sri Lanka bowled superbly, had some vile luck in the first hour and then accepted various gifts from England in the second. It was – and I’m not really saying this critically, because they’ve earned the right – one of the most irresponsible batting performances I can remember from an England side. Bet they’ll bowl well this afternoon though.

WICKET! England 325 all out (Bashir c Kumara b Rathnayake 1)

69th over: England 325-9 (Stone 15, Bashir 1) Asitha continues to harass the middle of the pitch, so Stone top-edges him straight over Chandimal’s head for six. Shame, with this game being at The Oval, that it didn’t go for four.

“I was at Trent Bridge for that Atherton innings in 1996,” says John Swan. “Jeez, it was a painful watch. Much more entertaining was the moment the nice lady next to me dropped her hat off the edge of the balcony and it wedged between the balcony wall and the advertising hoarding – just out of reach, natch. It was retrieved by an enterprising steward with a wire coat hanger.

“In other news, that lady is now my wife of 25 years.”

That’s a great story. Strangely enough, Johnny Marr told a not dissimilar tale on Would I Lie To You? last night.

WICKET! England 318-9 (Hull c Dhananjaya b Asitha 2)

68th over: England 317-8 (Stone 7, Hull 2) There’s been a last-day-of-term feel to England’s batting, which I guess is human nature. Josh Hull gets his first Test runs with a pretty pleasant off drive for two.

“It is a truism in life that there are no absolutes, even in the binary case of ‘out’ and ‘not out’ in cricket,” says Steve Colwill. “There is always a grey area between the two options. It is only a question of how extensive the grey area is. In cricket, DRS substantially decreases this grey area, but it still remains. It is just a question of what you do with this remainder – difficult choices must be made with which not everybody will agree.”

67th over: England 314-8 (Stone 7, Hull 0) Stone, who is a decent lower-order batter, gets off the mark with a sweep for four off Dhananjaya. One way or another, England will be bowling soon.

66th over: England 307-8 (Stone 0, Hull 0) The debutant Josh Hull flashes at his third ball and is beaten. A wicket maiden. Vishwa’s figures today are excellent, and they don’t flatter him: 5-1-14-2.

WICKET! England 307-8 (Pope c Karunaratne b Vishwa 154)

65th over: England 307-7 (Pope 154, Stone 0)

WICKET! England 307-7 (Atkinson c Rathnayake b Dhananjaya 5)

64th over: England 303-6 (Pope 153, Atkinson 2) Vishwa Fernando has bowled beautifully this morning. He beats Atkinson twice in three balls, and the other delivery was a gorgeous inswinger that Atkinson inside-edged onto the pad.

“The first 80 or so of Zak Crawley’s 189 at Old Trafford in the Ashes was hilariously lucky so maybe fits the bill, although after that it was pretty astonishing so maybe not quite right?”

He was all over the show, you’re right, though I thought it was only for the first 30-odd runs. I wouldn’t put the farm on it mind.

63rd over: England 301-6 (Pope 152, Atkinson 1) In other news, Tom Bowtell has a helluva memory. “Mike Atherton’s 160 against India in 1996 was always my benchmark for worst 150,” he writes. “As per Wisden: ‘Atherton had reached his tenth Test century – his fourth at Nottingham – 90 minutes after lunch, without ever looking convincing. He was beaten a fair number of times, but stuck to his task’