And so to Galle with the England team divided into three parts. There is a small group with practically no chance of playing in the first Test on Tuesday, a bigger band of players who may play and a larger one still who are definitely in the Test team.
In the first group Ollie Pope and Olly Stone reside, the tour rookies who played on Friday in the 50-over match against the Board XI at the Colombo Cricket Club. There were no runs for Pope, who endured a two-ball duck; Stones bowled with zest and took a wicket but will have to wait a little longer for his debut. In Galle, this pair will be in their yellow bibs racing on to the field bringing much-needed drinks and the statutory encouragements.
In the third group we find Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jimmy Anderson, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and, more notably, the uncapped Rory Burns, which means there is a remarkably high number of players lurching between probable and possible status. Among them count Keaton Jennings and Adil Rashid as strong probables and Ben Foakes as a slim possibility with the rest somewhere in between. Thus there seem to be a lot of decisions to be made over the weekend.
As another practice match unfolded, those of us reclining under the fans in a delightful old stand that soon filled up with early arrivals from the UK speculated about England’s cunning plans. No discernible pattern emerged. The runes could be interpreted in so many different ways. It may be that England have been shuffling their pack in order to confuse those in the Sri Lanka camp, who might have been looking on. Maybe in the stands we are way too sensitive about all the minute decisions taken around what was, after all, no more than a gentle work out.
But there were a few queries for onlookers. How come Chris Woakes, a Test centurion last summer, was not given the opportunity to have a bat? Does this mean he is not a strong contender for the Test? The anticipation is that Rashid will play in Galle and he could have done with a bat as well. And it was a minor mystery that Joe Denly should be given five early and expensive overs – to no great effect. The keeping was shared between Buttler and Foakes so perhaps they have yet to come to a final decision there.
It was not a great day for Denly, lbw for a second-ball duck to Lahiru Kumara, a Test pace bowler, who impressed in the morning. It was a rather better outing for Jennings and Sam Curran. Jennings was rarely fluent and his penchant for reverse sweeping the spinners will keep some of the old-timers on their edge of their seats, not to mention the next batsman in the order. He batted 33 overs for 45, not prettily but with perseverance, before retiring. Those runs may have been a relief but as Jennings mentioned several times afterwards, “Tuesday is crunch time”. Stokes, who later bowled a few overs was also able to retire after a convincing 53. Meanwhile Curran, who finished unbeaten on 48, unveiled some sparkling strokes towards the end of the innings.
In the field, Stuart Broad and Curran shared early wickets, though the latter was also tonked for two consecutive sixes by Avishka Fernando. Jack Leach was on in the tenth over, yielded seven runs in his first over but was commendably accurate thereafter. He took one wicket and is a likely starter in Galle – like half a dozen others. The match was probably a draw.
