A pitch that turned extravagantly, some highly questionable umpiring decisions and yet another Sri Lanka off-spinner with a suspect action, Batheesha de Silva, all combined to undermine the tourists' pursuit of an apparently routine target.

Such problems are not, of course, insurmountable but they proved too much for a side showing signs of rustiness after nine days without a match. The bowlers performed capabably in the sweltering humidity, but had they been better acclimatised and had more middle practice, they would never have allowed the weak local batting line-up to make as much as 142. As for the batsmen, several got out to poor shot selection.

Coach Mike Gatting was typically unruffled by defeat, saying it was all part of the learning curve.

I was sitting with him when David Nash was last out, victim of a ludicrous lbw decision, whereupon Gatting turned to me and just smiled. Greybeard of wisdom that he is, he would not comment publicly on the umpiring, but it was clear that he would be telling his team that they would have to live with it on this tour.

That is exactly what the last England A party to Sri Lanka (in 1991) tried to do before the manager, Bob Bennett, made an official complaint to the Sri Lankan Board, asking to have umpire Basil Anthony stood down from the final unofficial Test. The board refused.

There were still several good points for England A to take from the game. Ben Holl ioake bowled with excellent pace and movement; Ashley Giles also produced a fine spell, extracting turn and bounce on a surprisingly hard Police Ground pitch; and Mark Ealham had a fine all-round match.

Russell Arnold was the best of the three Sri Lankan spinners, who shared seven victims between them. Arnold made both his Test and one-day international debuts last year, but did not get a bowl for the seniors. That he caused so many problems underlines that England A have work to do against spin.

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Umpires stand in tourists' way

By Geoffrey Dean in Colombo

NOT FOR the first time, an England touring side failed to hit the ground running, with Nick Knight's team losing their opening fixture by 40 runs on Saturday to an equally young Sri Lankan Board Presidents' XI.

Some of the England top order played poor shots to get out, but there were mitigating factors in the tourists' dismissal for a disappointing 102.

None of the party apart from Steve James, who came in the mid-Eighties with his school, have been to Sri Lanka before, and the batsmen were clearly taken by surprise by the wicket at the Police Ground.

Rock hard, it offered some pace and bounce but also turned square, allowing the home side's three spinners to cause all sorts of problems. That the off-spinner Batheesha de Silva was almost certainly a chucker made him particularly difficult to play as he was too fast through the air to get down the pitch to.

De Silva took a return catch that looked as dodgy as his action. He somehow managed to convince the umpire that he had Ashley Giles's leading edge under control before the ball hit the ground.

Giles was one of three victims of highly questionable decisions. David Sales, who appeared to be caught on the half-volley by the wicketkeeper, and David Nash, absurdly adjudged lbw, were the other two.

Nash and a convincing Mark Ealham were the only batsmen who stayed for any time. James went in the first over, fencing at a lifting delivery to be caught at second slip; Ben Hollioake was out first ball, back to a full-length inswinger that bowled him; and Knight steered a widish delivery to point.

This left England 14 for three in the seventh over, but they recovered to 69 for four in the 16th before Sales's controversial dismissal turned the match.

In the field, the main plusses were the bowling of Hollioake and Giles. Hollioake showed that the groin strain he picked up at Kenya has now healed, bowling quicker than the openers, hitting the deck hard and swinging the ball out.

``Yes, he bowled quite well,'' mused Graham Gooch before Mike Gatting interjected: ``Very well, I'd say.'' Gooch admitted that the side were now under no illusions as to how tough the cricket would be here on turning pitches. ``We'll have to work out the good percentage shots when the ball's turning, and also learn to accept whatever umpiring decisions we get,'' he said.

The opening first-class match of the tour starts today. Darren Maddy and James Ormond come into the side for Andrew Flintoff and Paul Hutchison for the three-day encounter against a Board XI.