By Geoffrey Dean in Kurunegala
TWO giant hills overlook this most scenic of tree-ringed grounds, and it was almost as if England A took their cue from their names - Elephant Rock and Tortoise Rock.
The first seven overs of this unofficial first Test were a stampede as Nick Knight and Steve James crashed 39 runs off some loose new-ball bowling; thereafter, it was a crawl as the remaining 87 overs of the day yielded just 163.
England's cautious approach was justified, however, as they are now well placed on a dusted-up pitch that turned from the first session.
It should deteriorate further as there will be no play today after it was declared a day of mourning for the 12 killed in last Sunday's bomb blast in Kandy. The match will now end on Tuesday.
Forcing the pace was not easy on such a slow surface, against the three Sri Lankan spinners, all of whom bowled well.
``You'd have had to play some big shots to score more quickly, and we just feel that first-innings runs are absolutely vital,'' said Knight after his excellently crafted 85 in 315 minutes.
Knight seldom used his feet to the spinners, being content to work singles square on the leg side, and to wait for the bad ball, which he put away unerringly. A study of his 12 fours reveals a nicely varied assortment - three pulls, three off-drives and a brace of on-drives, cuts and sweeps. He also swept a six.
Both England openers fell to the off-spin of Tilan Samaraweera, James being caught behind off a quicker ball and Knight at short extra off a powerful drive.
Darren Maddy's solid three-hour 50 ended when he padded up to a googly from Upul Chandana. Andrew Flintoff fell when he nicked a big turner.
Day 2: Ealham justifies elevation
By Geoffrey Dean in Kurunegala
IN elevating Mark Ealham to No 4 on this tour, the England selectors gave clear notice that they regard him as potentially good enough to bat at No 6 in the Test side, thereby solving the perennial problem of finding a batting all-rounder.
Ealham's hard-earned 84 in this first unofficial Test gained approving nods from Messrs Gatting and Gooch yesterday and helped ease England A to a position of strength.
Ealham has batted a few times at three or four for Kent in the past, but is known more for being a solid lower middle-order player with the ability to hit effectively in one-day cricket. He has long had a good technique, however, and last summer impressed the Australians who, as Steve Waugh revealed in his tour diary, felt England had made a mistake by dropping him midway through the Ashes series.
For 4.5 hours, he demonstrated he can summon the discipline to go with his extensive repertoire of shots. Some of these, particularly the cut, were on view yesterday, as he and Ben Hollioake (67 off 111 balls) quickly made up for the team's slow scoring on the first day. The pair propelled England A from their overnight position of 202 for four to 321 for four in just two hours before Hollioake was out to the last ball before lunch.
The key to the transformation in the run-rate was the willingness of Ealham and Hollioake to use their feet to the three Sri Lankan spinners on a slow, turning pitch. Both hit straight sixes and messed up their opponents' length. The second new ball was consequently taken, but expensively mis-directed.
The home side were at their wits' end when Hollioake top-edged a cut to point. Further aggression was called for after lunch, but instead the lower order largely pushed and prodded their way to 385, the last six wickets falling for 64 runs.
Paul Hutchison began a fine nine-over opening spell by having the left-handed Russell Arnold caught at first slip off an out-swinger. Steve James held a miraculous catch at backward short leg off a pull from Sanjeewa Ranatunga before the Sri Lankans counter-attacked effectively through captain Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene, both players with Test experience, who put together an unbroken stand of 62.
With only two days left, England hope the pitch will deteriorate.
Day 3: Knight eases down road to nowhere
By Geoffrey Dean in Kurunegala
THE large political demonstrations that took place outside the ground here yesterday could just as easily have been protests about the entertainment value of this first Test. By lunch it was going nowhere and the last day will be little more than practice.
The Sri Lankan board must take their share of the blame. They insisted, despite pleas from the England and Wales Cricket Board, that the three A Tests should be four not five-day matches, thereby negating the whole point of A Tests, that they should be the closest possible preparation for the final step up. Throughout, this has been a four-day match played at a five-day pace.
The board's claim that the length of Test cricket should be unique is baloney, for on the last England A tour here seven years ago, all three unofficial Tests were five-day affairs. All were drawn, and if the remaining two Tests are played on a pitch like this one, the same result looks likely.
England A's refusal to take even the slightest risk while they edged their way to 385 may have meant they could not lose the match. But equally, to save it, Sri Lanka were faced with the relatively simple task of reaching the follow-on target of 236. This they did with ease, for the pitch, although turning, is desperately slow.
Resuming on 105 for two, Sri Lanka soon lost their captain, Marvan Atapattu, when he fell for a well-set trap, fending a lifting delivery from Jimmy Ormond to leg gully. But in the next 58 overs, England took only one wicket.
Nick Knight, with six specialist bowlers to choose from, did not rotate them with enough imagination. Paul Hutchison was not given a bowl until shortly before tea when the second new ball was taken. With his third delivery, he removed Sri Lanka's brightest prospect, Mahela Jayawardene, 21, whose 110 contained some classy off-drives and wristy flicks.
Dean Cosker, who was also under-bowled, took a wicket soon after his belated introduction, beating the stylish Naveed Nawaz in the flight with a ball that dipped to sneak under his bat.
Day 4: Tourists finding their feet By Geoffrey Dean in Kurunegala
Scoreboard
AFTER the first unofficial Test had inevitably ended in the most inconclusive of draws, both Mike Gatting, England A's coach, and Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan captain, agreed that the tourists would have to bat much more positively in the second Test on Friday.
While Sri Lanka managed a run-rate of three an over, England did not even get close to 2.5 in either innings.
Reluctance to get down the pitch to spinners was a chronic theme of England's batting here, apart from one session when Mark Ealham and Ben Hollioake took 119 runs off the Sri Lankans. Hollioake was the only England batsman to use his feet when the ball was turning away from the bat, but then he is the most confident, and audacious, player in the side.
The others, quite understandably, were not prepared to take that risk, but what was disappointing was that nobody apart from Hollioake and Ealham went down the pitch to spinners turning the ball into the pads. Nick Knight, for instance, stayed handcuffed to his crease against both the leg-spinner and the left-armer, who were turning it in to him.
Atapattu said he was surprised England were not more positive, but felt that conditions were a new experience for them. Gatting was equally sympathetic: ``Yes, we were very cautious, but it was the first game of the series, and no one wanted to give it away. It's true that the better players of spin use their feet a lot, but this tour is all about learning.''
One player who has learnt as much as anybody in the last few weeks is Darren Maddy, who yesterday reached 500 first-class runs for both legs of the tour.
He has passed 50 in all six innings, having twice gone on to make a hundred. Spin was his self-confessed weak point, but he has worked out a method here, scoring mainly by sweeping and cutting.