Vaas 90; England 81

Well, here's the good news: England have worked out a way to play Muttiah Muralitharan: crumble in a pathetic heap before he is given a bowl. Murali took only one wicket for Sri Lanka this morning, thanks to the spineless capitulation in the face of some admittedly fine and aggressive pace bowling. The snorter of a ball from Lasith Malinga that got Kevin Pietersen, bouncing it almost up the batsman's nose, was one of the best wickets of the year and is well worth a watch.

You know that things have not gone well when you switch on the radio to be told "England are making a good recovery after their early wobble and are now 61 for six". Two run outs is inexcusable, but the worst wickets were Michael Vaughan, shouldering arms to an off cutter from Chaminda Vaas's seventh ball, and Ravi Bopara, playing far too ambitious a stroke early in his innings and chipping Vaas to mid-on.

Vaas, who only two Tests ago people were suggesting may retire after this series, is a shoo-in for man of the match, even though his captain made a double hundred. As well as his four wickets today - and presumably a few more tomorrow - Vaas made a crucial 90 runs in a seventh-wicket partnership of almost 200 with Mahela Jayawardena.

That's right: a tail-end batsman made more runs than the combined total of England. Vaas may know which way to hold a bat, but he has passed 50 in only 13 of his 148 innings and is a bit short of being ranked as an all-rounder. That said, England's last four have never scored a fifty between them in more than 200 innings...

Comments

[Peter McGuinness]

I must say that I am already feeling most chipper about The Ashes. In fact, I am counting the days. Well, I'm counting to 21 anyway, which - as you know - is my limit, Patrick.

To be fair on you Poms, Sri Lanka is without doubt, the second best team in the world. After watching them perform beautifully in short bursts down here in Oz, it's no suprise that they're traveling so well. Could be that they have been worrying unduly about a dearth of youngsters...