Adaptable Sri Lanka show way forward

Moores and the selectors seem to have rescued the international careers of at least three players: Ryan Sidebottom, Owais Shah and Graeme Swann.

Of the six permanent coaches that England's cricket team have had – Micky Stewart, Keith Fletcher, Ray Illingworth, David Lloyd, Duncan Fletcher and Moores – the first and last could most easily pass as football managers. Stewart, the father of Alec, and Moores have the same sort of lingo and demeanour as their winter cousins. Nevertheless, when Moores spoke in Dambulla yesterday, a keen cricket brain was apparent behind the football-speak.

This predictability and failure to embrace spin – as a scoring opportunity and a wicket-taking option – are some of the reasons why England have not been successful in the one-day game. The truth is that they should have won much more than they have ... I suspect it all stems from the English system, at the grass roots and in county cricket, which over the years has placed a great deal of emphasis on uniformity ...