Russell Lynch, travelling with an MCC tour, witnesses a controversial day at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy in the latest of his reports from Sri Lanka.

Barring an improbable comeback by Sri Lanka tomorrow, the MCC tourists will be spending their last day in Kandy at the poolside or shopping for souvenirs. England took complete control of the Test Match today and should tie the series at one-all by teatime on Saturday.

Once again, the cricket was electric. Another incident-packed day saw eleven wickets fall, 236 runs scored, and enough controversy for England coach Duncan Fletcher to call on the match referee to take a grip on events. Poor Sri Lankan umpire BC Cooray has taken some dreadful treatment from the home press for some unfortunate decisions - one English-language daily even had the headline 'Cooray bats for England'. But the sight of an umpire being led off by two police officers for protection has absolutely no place in world cricket.

We might be grateful for the fact that it was a Poya day today; every full moon is a holiday in Sri Lanka, especially when it falls on a Monday or Friday. There is a ban on the sale of alcohol across the country, so at least there was no beer in the ground to add fuel to the flames of a vociferous crowd.

The frustration for the hosts mounted as they simply could not finish off the last five English wickets. Stewart led the way in the morning with a typically forceful innings. He let loose with two trademark pull shots in front of square for boundaries, and was helped by White - who now seems completely at home as a Test all-rounder - to add 87 for the fifth wicket.

The first flashpoint came in the morning session as Stewart was 'caught' by Jayawardene off Muralitharan at silly point. Television evidence gave the hosts a strong case, but the finger remained down and England eased into the lead.

The rest of the day's play was a tale of a Yorkshireman, a Welshman and an umpire. The departure of White, Giles and Caddick in quick succession around the lunch interval left England at 346-9, giving hope to the Sri Lankans. They reckoned without a superb tenth-wicket stand of 41 between the ebullient tyro Darren Gough and the off-spinner Robert Croft, which kept Sri Lanka out in the field and took England's lead to 90. The hosts' annoyance grew with every run that ticked by before Chaminda Vaas trapped Gough leg before to settle matters.

The large English presence at the Asgiriya threw its weight behind Gough, who produced his quickest spell of the series so far at the beginning of the hosts' second innings. Regularly touching 88 or 89 mph, he had Attapatu caught behind by Stewart, and Aravinda de Silva caught in the gully fending off a brute of a bouncer.

In between, the match exploded as Jayasuriya was given out caught by Thorpe off Caddick when the batsman hit the ball into the ground first. This fact was clear to the naked eye in the press box, but England - unaware, one assumes - celebrated the dismissal of the Sri Lankan captain. A referral to the third umpire would quickly have resolved the matter, but the rules say that the technology can only be used for line decisions and judging whether a catch 'carries' to a fielder. The distraught skipper was reluctantly forced to leave the arena, but there was bad blood in the air for the rest of the session.

This incident contrasted so much with the sporting gesture of Marvan Attapatu, who didn't wait for a decision from Cooray before leaving the crease. This is certainly a rare sight in international cricket nowadays.

After Craig White had bowled first-innings centurian Jayawardene off the inside edge, it was left to Croft to leave Sri Lanka on the edge of the abyss by claiming Russel Arnold leg before wicket, and having Tillerkeratne Dilshan taken at slip by Hick. This was a perfect end to a fine day for the Welshman. Sri Lanka are in effect 8/6, England are buoyant, and the MCC tour is being thoroughly spoiled with the cricket seen so far.

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