Struggled to bowl them out, just hope we bat well or it could be embarrassing.

If Anderson has suspected back and side issues why did he come in as night watchman?

It sounds like he won't be able to bowl in their second innings, so we're down to two fast bowlers with no seam back-up of any note at all, given how seldom Trott & Bell bowl these days. This has been an accident waiting to happen for too long, but at least we had Collingwood in the past, and it's exactly why I felt Bopara should have been preferred to Morgan in the first place. (Aside from the fact that he knuckled down to playing first class cricket over here instead of swanning off to the IPL.) In fact given the strength of Sri Lanka's batting and weakness of bowling we could probably have picked five specialist bowlers and moved Prior into the top six regardless of any danger of a bowler getting crocked.

There must be a good chance England can bat all day today and get a lead of 200 or so, but will we have the firepower to force a win on the final day? I suppose if the weather remains iffy it will all be a bit irrelevant anyway.

Dull lifeless wicket. Anyone would struggle to bowl a side out on this deck. Some deliveries were so slow off the pitch that the batsman had time to finish his cognac, stub out his cigar, rearrange his protective gear, exchange pleasantries with the wicketkeeper - perhaps pick up a tip re where to go to dinner - and finish the chapter he's on in War And Peace before he even had to pick his bat up.

Play started at 2:30, very slow going

Cook out for 133.

Shocker of a decision for Pietersen, all replays including Hotspot (despite what the sky comentators say) are inconclusive yet he is given out by the VR.

Eng 309/4

Impressive run accumulation from Trott and Bell this afternoon, but it's not half as much fun to watch as when we were doing it against the Aussies!

It's been tough to watch at times, post Ashes I think. Still, lovely watching England's top order get big hundreds, we've not scored enough hundreds in the past, I think it's something the Flower era has seriously improved.

What I have learnt is how much I dislike Nick Knight, I just find him incredibly annoying.

Found this one too dull to watch. Nice to see Cook and Trott continuing their good form though and Bell in the runs.

I think Cardiff is the "rainiest" city in the UK, if they have to give them a test match (and they don't) they could at least not give them the earliest one of the year.

Could be a big finish after all, SL 43-5, still 53 behind England with a possible 34 overs left (weather depending).

52-8 now!

Decent bowling no doubt, but the Sri Lankan batting has been absolutely horrendous.

Shows a great mentality in the England team though, would have been easy to think there was no way of winning the game and just go through the motions.

Wow! 82 all out.

England win by an innings and 14 runs.

Wow indeed. I'd been following this match from a distance, and turned over after the Reading Swansea game. Fantastic achievement to earn a victory from what looked like a bore-draw this morning.

Abysmal by the Lankans.

To lose a test from that position is unforgivable.

Good from England, good in that they manufactured a win in a way that the 'Number 1' teams in world cricket have done in the past. How many times have we sat watching an England collapse and you're sat there thinking 'this game was safe 20 mins ago' and Gough was walking out with his helmet looking to big for his head.

I think the signs are good for England, 3 bowlers, against a good team, it wasn't hooping all over the place or anything they just got a sniff and I guess Sri Lanka sensed it and lost their nerve.

someone got on england at 999/1

and some bigger bets coining it in too

[url=http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/headingleycricketclub/news/punter-backs-england-at-9991-317698.htmlmore here[/url

Like I said a bit dull



A great bowling effort from England and although the batsmen collapsed as it was mainly due to the pressure England created. Unbelieveable!

If that had been Pakistan collapsing so poorly with massive odds against a result either way, the ICC anti-corruption unit would have been all over this game like stink on a camel.