Phil Neale, the England team's Operations Manager, has written a letter to the Sri Lankan Cricket Board requesting they talk to one of the Board President's XI players following an on-field confrontation with Craig White.

Ruchira Perera approached Craig White after an unsuccessful appeal for caught-behind against the Englishman late on Saturday. Words were exchanged, and Perera pointed to White's bat before returning to his mark.

White's unhappiness at the incident prompted Neale and Duncan Fletcher to speak to the umpires at the close of play to seek their views on the matter.

"There was an incident out there and we, as the England management, weren't overly amused by it and neither was Craig White so we had a word with the umpires, found out exactly what happened and passed on a message to the board," Nasser Hussain explained.

"We're not going to dwell on it, we're looking forward to the Test match and that's all we're going to do. It's in the hands of the Sri Lankan Board now and it's up to them to decide what to do with it.

Hussain denied that the episode would distract the focus of his team, however, and expressed the hope that the matter would soon be forgotten: "We just want to get on with playing cricket. A little thing that happened in Matara on Saturday evening is not going to count on Thursday morning in the Test match.

"There was a verbal exchange and it we thought this was the best way forward. We want to calm the situation down, all we've done is ask their board to speak to the lad and as far as we're concerned the matter's closed.

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