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

Lunch: England lead by 97 runs

WICKET! England 35-2 (Pope b Kumara 7)

7th over: England 35-1 (Lawrence 20, Pope 7) Pope’s first boundary is a beauty, cuffed elegantly off the hip when Asitha drops fractionally short. Later in the over he’s surprised by a bit of extra bounce but manages to drop the ball safely on the leg side for a single. Josh Hull won’t be much fun to face in the fourth innings if the pitch gets more uneven.

5th over: England 29-1 (Lawrence 19, Pope 2) Lawrence hurtles down the track, tries to slam Rathnayake into the crowd at extra cover and misses. “It’s opening batting, Jim, but not as we know it…” says Mike Atherton on Sky. Nine minutes till lunch.

“With that Duckett dismissal, over the two innings since Brook got out England have lost eight for not very many completely unnecessarily,” says Felix Wood. “By taking it down to ultra attacking from reckless they could have been so far ahead in the game that a handsome win would be assured. On another day Pope would have got out early or on 30 or 60 or 90 or 120 and they’d be a long way behind. They’re a bowler down so need big runs not quick runs now, and I’m not sure they’re focused enough to play more than one way.”

It’s the last day of term and they’ve come to school in their football kit. This has surely been their most indulgent batting performance since the first innings at Lord’s last summer but, while I don’t love it, I can understand why it has happened.

5th over: England 28-1 (Lawrence 18, Pope 2) Lawrence gets his second boundary with a smooth swivel pull off Asitha. It went flat, hard and only just bounced inside the rope. Pope then chases a very wide delivery and is beaten.

“The problem is, in some ways, Mo retiring from international cricket doesn’t feel real or definite,” says Matt Dony. “Everyone keeps saying he’s such selfless and nice and team-oriented guy, you almost feel like, should he get a phone call, he would willingly join up with the squad. A fairly unique, life-affirming cricketer person.”

4th over: England 22-1 (Lawrence 13, Pope 1) “With a record of 0 from 9 DRS reviews, Ollie Pope’s record is heading towards statistical significance,” writes Brian Withington. “Much more of this and we will be moving into Stuart Broad territory where the most reliable tactic is to go with the opposite of whatever he thinks. Of course this will require some rigorous design to ensure that Pope’s ‘decision’ is not influenced by the prior knowledge that it will be reversed. A veritable field day for Bayesians.”

3rd over: England 20-1 (Lawrence 12, Pope 0) That might be the first time in Test history that an opener has been caught at mid-on inside the first three overs. It wasn’t a good shot, and maybe he was a bit too frivolous, I don’t know. What was it Dolly Parton said about rainbows?

WICKET! England 20-1 (Duckett c Vishwa b Asitha 7)

2nd over: England 15-0 (Duckett 7, Lawrence 7) Dhananjaya has given the new ball to Milan Rathnayake, preferring his discipline to Lahiru Kumara’s pace. After a couple of sighters, Lawrence charges down the pitch to thump a thrilling boundary over extra cover. Shot!

The next ball, on the pads, is tucked easily behind square for three. No idea how long it will last but this has to be the right approach for Lawrence. It’s always the correct approach for Duckett, who wallops a pull through midwicket for four to complete the over.

1st over: England 4-0 (Duckett 3, Lawrence 0) Duckett is busy from ball one, taking three off the first two balls. Lawrence runs down the pitch to his first delivery from Asitha, which suggests he’s not going to die wondering. The ball hits him on the hip and runs away for a leg-bye. The rest is dots.

“Just what is it about cricket?” says Simon McMahon. “I’m pretty sure I won’t feel the same way as I do now about Moeen’s retirement when I hear that Ronaldo has finally decided to call it a day. But maybe that’s just me.”

Not sure Ronaldo is the best comparison, although Moeen is also notorious for posting those topless selfies in the gym.

Lunch is at 1.45pm so England’s openers have around 40 minutes to survive bat. Here they come: Ben Duckett and, probably for the last time as opener, Dan Lawrence.

Loads of love for Moeen today, and quite right too.

John Swan “Totally agree with you about Moeen Ali. A perfect example of when stats don’t come close to telling the whole story. That classical cover drive, the effortless muscle over long on, the strangely enjoyable both-arms-aloft bowling action, plus I don’t recall him dropping anything in the field. I have a slight (Thorpe-influenced, I’ll admit) tear in my eye at the thought that we won’t see him again.”

Brian Withington “I wholeheartedly concur with all the positive sentiment about Moeen Ali. I shall really miss those quintessential came(M)os for England: an elegant 29 in quick time; a couple of overs taking a key wicket; a bit of sage advice in the field; and a fleeting appearance in the group celebration before the corks start flying. It’s almost like he never sought or wanted the limelight but was just there whenever needed. Great team man. Great guy.”

James Brough “It’s a sad day to know we’ve seen the last of Mo in an England shirt. I was at Headingley in 2017 on the fourth day against West Indies with a blind friend. She would go to matches with a little portable radio and listen to TMS. Her batteries failed and I spent the last session giving her ball by ball commentary. Moeen made 84 at a run a ball and was an absolute joy to describe. It was one of the most enjoyable couple of hours I’ve spent at a cricket match, looking for the right words to describe effortless cover drives and flicks through midwicket by a man who could make batting look as easy as anyone I’ve ever seen. Go well, Mo. You’ll always have a place in my heart for that afternoon.”

“Moeen’s announcement took me back to the time I met him – at an airport lounge in Abu Dhabi, back in 2016,” says John Bailey. “We lived in Singapore at the time and were flying home for Christmas. We managed to blag our way into the Etihad lounge and found an empty section so our then 18 month-old toddler could run around without bothering anyone.

“No sooner had we arrived than the whole England cricket team filed in – they were on their way home from India. Joe Root almost trod on our daughter as she darted across in front of him, and Alastair Cook gave me a lovely smile as I ran to pick her up. As they settled in around us, I found myself behind Moeen at the breakfast bar, my daughter on my hip. I couldn’t resist telling him that this little girl had watched his century in Rajkot a few days earlier, sitting on my knee in Singapore and clapping wildly every time the camera cut to the crowd applauding him.

“He was very relaxed and friendly and I still have a great photo of my daughter pointing at his beard as he smiles back at her – she’d never seen anything like it. What a genuinely good guy. He’s given cricket lovers a lot of enjoyment and some great moments. Best of luck in his coaching career.”

“God knows Bazball can be infuriating but five debutant fifers in two years is incredible,” writes Max Williams. “Being part of this team must be the best thing in the world.”

The fact even Jimmy and Stuart Broad describe it as the most enjoyable period of their careers says everything.

England lead by 62 runs They’ve had a good morning, taking the last five wickets for 43. Josh Hull and Olly Stone took three wickets apiece, with Stone the pick of the attack. But it was Hull who had us all looking at the ceiling.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 263 all out (Avisha c Smith b Bashir 11)

61st over: Sri Lanka 259-9 (Kumara 5, Asitha 7) Kumara fences Stone just short of Pope at gully. The umpires went upstairs to check but it clearly bounced in front. I’m not sure Pope even appealed.

England do appeal for caught behind when Kumara smears across the line. Ben Duckett started to run off the field, assuming it was out, but Ollie Pope’s latest review was unsuccessful. It hit Kumara on the shoulder of the body, not the bat..

60th over: Sri Lanka 257-9 (Kumara 4, Asitha 6) Asitha chips Bashir over midwicket for two, continuing this mildly irritating last-wicket partnership. Lunch is an hour away so England will want to get batting asap, especially as the sun has just come out.

“I would like to bring up the slip catch by one Joe Root,” says Mark Slater. “Is there not a England record for catches by outfielders, and does Root not now share it? It was a subject mentioned during the previous Test.”

He’s now on 201 catches, behind only Mahela Jayawardene (205) and Rahul Dravid (210) among outfielders. I think he took the England record a couple of years ago.

59th over: Sri Lanka 254-9 (Kumara 3, Asitha 0) Kumara almost copies Rathnayake’s dismissal when he swishes at fresh air outside off stump, then clunks a pull into the leg side for a single.

Blimey, the No11 Asitha charges down the track to clout Stone back over his head for four. Sri Lanka trail by 71.

58th over: Sri Lanka 249-9 (Kumara 2, Asitha 0) Shoaib Bashir replaces Josh Hull, who bowled an impressive spell of 6-0-27-2 either side of the rain break. Asitha misses a couple of disgusting smears across the line.

57th over: Sri Lanka 248-9 (Kumara 1, Asitha 0) Olly Stone has quietly had an impressive return to Test cricket, and with Mark Wood injured he has a good chance of playing in Pakistan.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 248-9 (Rathnayake c Smith b Stone 7)

56th over: Sri Lanka 248-8 (Rathnayake 7, Kumara 1) Rathnayake tries to uppercut a Hull bouncer that beats him and Jamie Smith behind the stumps. Kumara is beaten by a length delivery later in the over. Hull’s figures belong to an ODI circa 1991: 11-0-53-3.

“For me the perfect example of Moeen’s selflessness was promoting himself to No3 during the last Ashes to protect Harry Brook,” says Mark Hooper. “If you look at the figures it looks like he failed, but for the better of the team. It might be apocryphal but I love the story that he replied to his surprise recall to the England team by texting Stokes back ‘LOL’.”

Yep, spot on. I don’t think he ever explicitly stated it was to protect Brook, but we all know what Moeen’s like. It’s no exaggeration to say that England would have lost, maybe been hammered, had he not moved up to No3. It was great that he had that partnership with Zak Crawley at Old Trafford and especially his spell on the final day at The Oval. I think we’ll remember him as much for his decency as his wonderful elegance.

55th over: Sri Lanka 243-8 (Rathnayake 6, Kumara 1) Stone is brought on to replace Woakes and steal wickets from a 20-year-old’s table. He almost does just that when Kumara fences a good delivery just short of the slips. A maiden.

“I will miss Moeen,” says Matt Emerson. “Like Graham Thorpe he was a selfless player and put the needs of the team before his own. I wish him a peaceful non-playing career. Oh, and it’s raining in Guildford. Expect an early lunch to be taken about 12.30.”

54th over: Sri Lanka 243-8 (Rathnayake 6, Kumara 1) Since Baz and Ben took over in 2022, five England bowlers have taken five-fors on debut: Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Josh Tongue, Tom Hartley and Gus Atkinson. Before that there had been three in the previous 19 years.

Hull should be one wicket away from joining the list – but Olly Stone has just dropped a straightforward chance. The whole thing was weird: a full toss that Kumara spooned miles in the air towards long leg. Stone ran in, tried to catch it with a reverse cup and made a mess of it. There was no need to reverse his hands.

“Sad to hear of Moeen’s retirement,” says Colum Fordham. “His Gower-like cover drives, probing off-spin bowling and excellent fielding made him, as well as his humble demeanour, one of the most endearing and engaging cricketers on the world stage. I feel England may have missed a trick by leaving him out of the T20 team. I think Moeen still had/has much to offer in this format.”

I think it’s the right decision: he’s 37 and there were times in the last year or so when he almost felt like a specialist vice-captain. That sounds harsh, which wasn’t the intention, but he has been fairly peripheral for a while. Time to look at Jacob Bethell in the middle order, maybe Sam Curran too.

53rd over: Sri Lanka 238-8 (Rathnayake 2, Kumara 0) Woakes bowls a few deliveries across Rathnayake, then gets one to swing back sharply to hit him on the glove. A maiden.

“I can’t help but be reminded of another raw bowler, picked as a bit of an unknown, whose action looked in need of coaching, but who possessed the priceless ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam at decent pace,” writes Gary Naylor. “He had a few bumps along the way, but he ironed things out and did okay. Maybe, up on the balcony this afternoon, Jimmy Anderson can tell Josh Hull about him.”

He was sharp at the start, wasn’t he? We tend to forget that.

52nd over: Sri Lanka 238-8 (Rathnayake 2, Kumara 0) Tell you what folks, we might have found one here. For all the talk of pace and height, it’s the swing that really makes him dangerous. Well, that and the height, the left-arm angle and the potential pace.

“I’ve seen quite a bit of Hull over the past couple of years at Leicester and he’s definitely capable of bowling over 85mph,” says Mike Daniels. “That’ll probably come as he relaxes into Test cricket.

“He’s increased his run up this year, he had a shorter one previously. I think they’ve (Leicester) worked on a longer run up to help him get through the crease and maintaining body height to offset a tendency to ‘heave’ the ball at the batter and lose body shape.

“He’s only twenty and nowhere near the finished article but has enormous potential. He’s a nice lad as well.”

You could argue his potential is unprecedented in English cricket. I know we have Reece Topley but he’s never been a serious contender for the Test team because of his injuries.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 238-8 (Vishwa LBW b Hull 0)

51st over: Sri Lanka 237-7 (Rathnayake 1, Vishwa 0) Woakes spears four byes down the leg side – Smith had no chance – then digs in a lovely bouncer that is gloved into the leg side by Vishwa.

“I wish Mo all the best now he’s called it a day for England,” writes Guy Hornsby. “Someone who always seemed to play the game for the right reasons and put the team before himself, even when he was messed around. A beautiful, if mercurial player who seemed to be lauded for his strokeplay and singled out by many when he failed in ways that felt unfair to me. His book was really interesting, and seeing how he navigated the game and succeeded as a Muslim is something I hope inspires many after him. One of the good guys.”

Another thing I always loved about Moeen is his aversion to bee ess. His interviews were always so candid, particularly when he and/or England had played crap.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 233-7 (Kamindu c Root b Woakes 64)

50th over: Sri Lanka 233-6 (Kamindu 64, Rathnayake 1) Kamindu Mendis turns Hull fractionally short of the man at leg slip, then shapes to hook a bouncer before wisely deciding against it. The ball beats everyone and flies away for five wides.

This is a menacing start from Hull. The next delivery swings away to take the edge and fly through the vacant gully region at catchable height. Four runs but a moral victory for Hull against a seriously good player. As Stuart Broad points out, Mendis’s weight was back because of the bouncer which was why he edged the drive.

Lunch has been pushed back to 1.45pm. Josh Hull is about to resume with the ball.

Play will restart at 11.50am

No word of a lie.

“As to nicknames for Josh, simply calling him Rod doesn’t seem surreal enough,” writes Kim Thonger (again). “I’d be calling him Emu because of his height as well.”

Isn’t the unofficial rule of nicknames that there should only be one degree of separation?

“I’m sure the question on everyone’s lips is, is Josh Hull related to Rod Hull of Emu fame?” asks Kim Thonger. “And does he also have a grudge against plain speaking Yorkshire folk?”

I didn’t realise until recently that Rod Hull died because he wanted to watch Man Utd in the Champions League. I knew he was adjusting his aerial but didn’t know it was so that he could watch Henning Berg v Ronaldo. It almost sounds made up. Poor bloke.

Rain stops play

49th over: Sri Lanka 223-6 (Kamindu 59, Rathnayake 1) Gus Atkinson has a tight quad which is why he’s off the field. The fielder is Jordan Cox, the next cab off the battingt rank and a magnificent fielder.

The next batter Rathnayake chases a very wide, very full delivery from Woakes and is beaten. Two left-handers at the crease now, though not for long because it has just started raining. Rathnayake is beaten again by the last ball of the over.

48th over: Sri Lanka 221-6 (Kamindu 58, Rathnayake 1) Hull’s figures are 7-0-36-2; there’s plenty to like.

“The England team seems to be referring to Josh Hull as ‘Hully’,” writes Stephen Cottrell. “Surely they’re missing some great opportunities here. I don’t expect that Ollie Pope is a huge rugby league fan, but what about ‘Kingston’ or ‘KR’. For my generation, anyone with the surname Hull would automatically be ‘Rod’.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 220-6 (Dhananjaya c Bashir b Hull 69)

47th over: Sri Lanka 214-5 (Dhananjaya 64, Kamindu 57) Gus Atkinson is off the field, which is probably a factor in Josh Hull opening the bowling. Chris Woakes opens at the other end, taking a few deliveries to find his line before swinging a good delivery back into Kamindu’s midriff. A maiden.

“Mo retiring is bad day for cricket – what a delight he was – but a good day for Wilfred Rhodes,” says Pete Salmon. “Mo never did bat at 10 or 11, so Our Wilf keeps his record.”

For now: Ben Stokes has batted everywhere except No2.

46th over: Sri Lanka 214-5 (Dhananjaya 64, Kamindu 57) England open the bowling with Josh Hull, which depending on your perspective is either a) a clever way of boosting his confidence or b) two stiff fingers in the direction of Mother Cricket. He starts well, getting some nice some outswing to the left-hander Kamindu, who thick edges a good delivery wide of the cordon for a single.

“Astonishing that Moeen Ali played 298 times for England: 68 Tests, 138 ODIs and 92 T20s,” says Andrew Goudie. “Ultimate team player.”

It was a unique career, wasn’t it? Yes, yes, I know all careers are unique, strictly speaking. But I can’t think of any that resemble Moeen’s.

Play is about to begin. For how long, we know not, so let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

Who wants the TMS overseas link? What’s it worth?

Oh go on then.

Today’s schedule

On-the-nose musical interlude

Barney Ronay on Josh Hull

You could – and some will – call Hull’s selection the most damning statement of thanks-but-no-thanks ever directed at county cricket. Picking him is literally saying, there is nothing to be gained from succeeding in this. We will instead pick a 20-year-old with 16 wickets at 62 because we like how he looks. How are you meant to feel about this if you’re a 27-year-old with hard-earned county numbers, winning games every week, running through the pain, dreaming of a bigger stage?

There were more issues with the light yesterday, including a weird few minutes in which Chris Woakes was obliged to bowl four balls of offspin. Here’s what Olly Stone made of it all.

“Imran Khan played 48 of his 88 Tests at No7 and averaged 35,” writes Gary Naylor. “He’d be in the conversation. Shaun Pollock played half his 108 Tests from number 8 and averaged 31 there!”

Imran is in almost every conversation about great cricketers, isn’t he? I do think he played his best cricket at No6, though he was still a giant.

“Hi Rob,” writes Marcus Abdullahi. “Batters to average over 40 batting at 7 (min 20 Tests) from highest average to lowest: de Kock, Gilchrist, Greg Matthews, Litton Das, Chris Cairns, Wasim Raja, Alan Knott, Matt Prior and IT Botham.”

That’s a good list. Litton Das has played some extraordinary innings in that position.

And now it’s over to Andrew Miller for the weather

I think we’ll start on time, but there’s a yellow weather warning from 2pm, so there’s that.

International cricket lost a bit of charm overnight when Moeen Ali announced his retirement from all forms. His England career is hard to summarise, isn’t it? He could exhilarate and frustrate in equal measure; he was England’s most elegant left-hander since David Gower; he was too unselfish for his own good; and he was – for richer and poorer – a beacon of humanity. Moeen has an endearing honesty and self-awareness, as shown by his own assessment of his career.

I hope people remember me as a free spirit. I played some nice shots and some bad shots, but hopefully people enjoyed watching me.

He wasn’t a great player, but he leaves cricket in a better place than he found it. And the extent of his influence on British-Asian cricketers may not become apparent for another 10 or 15 years.

Ali Martin’s day two report

Preamble