Bell shines amid the gloom
No-one has doubted Muttiah Muralitharn's destiny in this match - least of all, it seems, England's batsmen
Andrew Miller in Kandy
02-Dec-2007
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In the 2005 Ashes, word slipped out that England's organisers had
booked their open-top bus parade a full week in advance, and the ECB
were rightly accused of hubris. Nobody, however, has bothered to level
the same charges at the committeemen at the Asgiriya in Kandy. Muttiah
Muralitharan's face is everywhere at the moment - on one billboard
he's posing with the number 709, on another he's already being
congratulated for reclaiming his crown. No-one has doubted his destiny
in this match - least of all, it seems, England's batsmen.
England's cricket on the second day was naïve but not unexpected. They
squandered a position of undoubted strength, and yet, such was the
bug-eyed fervour with which Muralitharan hounded them back to the
pavilion, it would be harsh to chastise them too severely for their
failings. They tried their best, but their best was found wanting, as
it surely will be tomorrow as well. England's tail is as long and
brittle as a deep-frozen anaconda, and Murali must be odds on to
complete not only his bid for the world record, but his second
eight-wicket haul in consecutive Tests against England.
"It's disappointing because we were in a very good position, but
that's why Murali is the best in the world," said Ian Bell. He was
England's most fluent batsman against the seamers, but unsurprisingly
found Murali a completely different proposition. "It's important we go
out tomorrow and build some partnerships around Colly [Paul
Collingwood]. We've got a chance to get a decent lead and the guys can
come out and bowl like they did in the first innings."
It all looked so promising after the first hour's play. Michael Vaughan was entrenched but enduring, absorbing Murali's wiles while Bell watched and learned from the non-striker's end. This was the first time Bell had faced him in the longest form of the game, and it wasn't until he had made 56 from 72 balls that he finally crossed
with his captain and went to take guard.
"I was pretty happy to be honest for the skipper to see him off," said
Bell. "I was trying to watch from the non-striker's end, trying to
pick in my own mind what it was he was bowling before I got down
there. It gave me a bit more opportunity to give myself the best
chance." Several hours in the nets with Merlin, the ECB's
spin-replicating machine, had helped Bell to visualise the moment, but
nothing could adequately prepare any of the England players for the
trials they were about to face.
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Bell's own innings included moments of aggression against Murali - a
two-step down the pitch resulted in a chancy swipe over mid-on for
four, and his eventual dismissal was a shot of similar intent. But as
England had preached beforehand, gameplans are everything when it
comes to negotiating his menace.
"I just wanted to be positive," said Bell. "I've learnt so far in my
short career that I want to play my game and use my feet, and be as
positive as possible against the spinners. From what I've learnt from
playing Warne and those guys, if you just try to survive they are
going to get you out anyway. I wanted to be positive in defence as
well as attack, watch the ball and trust myself."
Bell and England's gameplan also included lots of quick singles, but
that was one aspect of their play that simply didn't materialise.
Murali's 30 overs included just 19 scoring shots, a tribute to his
masterful accuracy but also indicative of a side that seemed trapped
in his headlights. "It's disappointing but that's why he's the best
bowler in the world," said Bell. "His record in Sri Lanka speaks for
itself."
England's prospects for the rest of the match now look as bleak as the
weather, which might in fact be their best hope of salvation. "The
pitch has been low from day one, and that's what it'll be like for the
rest of the game," said Bell, as the prospect loomed of another
agonising masterclass in the fourth innings. "I think that it's
important for the bowlers to hit a line and length and be patient,
because it's going to be harder to score as the game goes on."
England's bowlers answered that brief magnificently in the first
innings, but Murali doesn't even need to be posed the question. He
knows what he'll be producing for the rest of the match. England know
it too, as of course do his expectant hometown fans. Their ardour has been
dampened by consecutive days of anticlimax, but Murali and his
celebrations will not be delayed for much longer in this game.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo