England's World Cup plans in a spin

This was not the day to get worked up about a botched England batting effort, to fume about faulty technique and a failure to learn. Sport is about escapism but harsh reality has intruded on cricket with the untimely death of Phillip Hughes.

Alastair Cook has had weightier thoughts on his mind, having spoken compassionately and articulately the day before about the matter. Outside the England dressing room, the players' bats stood in a line. There had been discussions about whether to play the game at all and, if anything is clear from the last few harrowing days for the game, it is that there is far more to life than winning or losing an ODI.

Still, people came and cheered and waved flags and blew horns. Some brought signs and banners to commemorate Hughes. There was a handsome partnership between those bromantic heroes Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene for the hosts to enjoy. Sri Lanka eased to a 2-0 lead in this seven-match series and, as in Sharjah, as in Dhaka and Dubai and Bangalore yesterday, the world turned, albeit painfully.

That will be the necessary footnote when the England performance analysts look at this match. But look at it they will and they won't need to expend too much time in putting together a Powerpoint presentation. They've probably got an appropriate one on file.

What is it about the slow, turning ball that so entrances English batsmen? It may be a cliché to say they can't play spin but the evidence is being repeatedly presented before our eyes. Here, they might just as well have been asked to read the circular Sinhala script present on every street sign.

Cook's near-namesake, the journalist Alistair Cooke, once wrote: "I have nothing against clichés. Most of them are true, though you have to live through the denial of them to know it." England have given up denying it but acceptance has yet to put them on the pathway to dealing with the problem. The conditions in Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup may not suit twirlymen but that will not stop teams giving it a whirl against Cook and his men.

Sri Lanka bowled 30 overs of spin, in a match reduced to 45 a side and in which England failed to make use of two of them. Their combined figures were 6 for 127. At Trent Bridge during the summer, India's four slow bowlers - which included a part-time wicketkeeper in Ambati Rayudu - rounded up 6 for 122 from 30. When it comes to spin against England, particularly in limited-overs, you always round up.

The same pitch was used as for the first ODI and some of the life had gone out of it, making run-scoring more tricky. Even Sri Lanka had to work a little bit early on, before Sangakkara and Jayawardene got going. England's decision at the toss, after falling short in their run chase, could have been influenced by the fact batting first at the Premadasa had resulted in victory in each of the last five matches but even though the sun came out for the first time in days, very few of their batsmen spent enough time in the middle to enjoy it.

With Tillakaratne Dilshan employed from the start, England were quickly wrongfooted. Moeen Ali was perhaps a touch unfortunate to be bowled off his pads but there was an indication of deficient thought processes in the dismissals of Ian Bell and Cook, both caught attempting ill-conceived acts of aggression against spin. England have been trying to hone a more dynamic style of one-day batting on this tour but the situation called for something steadier.

When Cook went, England were 37 for 3 inside the opening Powerplay, the innings hobbling. Eoin Morgan flitted about the crease, using the reverse sweep and attempting to remain free from entanglement, which he succeeded until popping Thisara Perera into the off side. Since the series in Australia at the start of the year, Morgan has made 206 runs from 12 innings at 17.16. Cook has just one fifty all year, while Bell is yet to make a significant score since being shifted to No. 3. Like most of this innings, England's World Cup planning remains in a low gear.

Only Joe Root, all bobbing intent and marionette arms and legs, and Ravi Bopara, increasingly the unlikely wise man of the lower middle-order, were able to fashion a method and lift England to bare mediocrity. Just eight times did the ball roll to the boundary and two of those came from the edge of Chris Woakes' bat. Four batsmen were bowled off either bat or pad.

Alex Hales and James Taylor will have looked on, sensing that an opportunity must come soon - though the fact it is England's three senior batsmen who are struggling the most makes the selection issues even more intractable. The World Cup is coming but England are scarcely any closer.