When confronted with a belter such as this Lord's wicket, and a batting line-up which uniquely includes six Test double-centurions, a bowler's natural reaction is to improvise in an attempt to buy a wicket, something that Dominic Cork is particularly good at. But as Glenn McGrath would tell you, there is a reason why they teach line and length in the coaching manuals. As the day wore on England's surprise at being presented with a flat pitch and steaming conditions - when they expected seam, swing and dampness - manifested itself in some indisciplined bowling. England were picked off with increasing ease by the Sri Lankan batsmen whenever they strayed in length. When the England bowlers pitched on a good length, the Sri Lankans scored at a respectful rate of 1.72 runs per over. But England only found a good length 48% of the time all day. Shorter deliveries - which accounted for 38% of the output - went for 3.21 an over. And when England were too full, the run-rate shot up to 8.24 per over. That owed much to whips and flicks to leg as the ball swung nicely onto the pads; over half of Sri Lanka's runs off the bat (154 out of 292) came on the leg side, a sure sign that the England bowlers were not on top of their game.

It was the afternoon session when England really lost the plot, as frustration took over. Between lunch and tea, only 42% of their deliveries were on a good length, yet those which were went for only 1.62 an over. When England were too full or too short, that rate rocketed to more than five an over, and Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu were able to ease Sri Lanka into a position of control. The biggest culprit was Andrew Caddick, less than a third of whose deliveries (11 out of 36) were on a good length.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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