England in a positive spin

Who says England can’t win a match with spin? The probable threesome for the senior tour of India – Shaun Udal, Ian Blackwell and Monty Panesar – won’t be giving Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid nightmares, but the Under-19 side today showed the way, bowling England to a moral boosting warm-up win. To India’s Under-19 team Graeme White, Nick James and Moeen Ali will have sounded like a similar prospect to that facing the full squad next month. But they proved that with the backing of some thoughtful captaincy and the confidence to throw the ball up anything is possible. Food for thought as Vaughan and Co. prepare for their next challenge.

England, though, would do well not to get carried away. These types of matches are notorious for sending out the wrong signals, but what was eye-catching about the whole game was the intensity of proceedings and the thrill at the result. You would be unlikely to see any full national side whooping and hollering after winning a practice match, which partly goes to explain why Test sides often slip up - the desire isn’t quite there. However, both teams today – but especially England – were really up for this one. It will have had something to do with their 11-0 trashing in Bangladesh (making any win a joyous occasion) but it also shows what it means to these young guys to be representing their country. The scenes at the end looked more like the World Cup was theirs – well, if they continue in this style, they will have a decent chance of being there at the end.

It was a great match in which to get my bearings as far as the World Cup goes, and as it turned out, my bearings around Colombo. One thing I’m learning fairly quickly here is that the best-laid plans don’t always come off. Being the start of a tournament I’d had accreditation issues to sort early in the morning. That was fine, an easy tuk-tuk ride (well, all these things are relative) from the house I’m staying in, to the impressive Taj Samudra hotel, right on the sea front in Colombo. Getting from there to the ground, now that’s a different story.

Firstly, Galle Road, the major route in town, was shut in parts for the rehearsal ahead of Sri Lanka's Independence Day celebrations on Feb 4. This, as the tuk-tuk drivers kept explaining, was a real pain. But still, the guy seemed confident when I said “Bloomfield Cricket Ground.” After another ten minutes of playing dodgems with the traffic we arrived at a cricket ground. Only it was the SSC, one of the main Test grounds in the city. Across the road is the Nondescripts Ground. OK, so I wasn’t in the right place but at least I knew where I would need to go come Sunday and the first proper matches.

I obviously wore the “I have no idea where I am” look because another driver came up and asked if I needed another ride. They aren’t slow to spot the floundering visitor and the possibility of a nice bonus. However, I’m learning to confirm a fare before leaving, so a mere 100 rupees later I was at the right ground, in time to enjoy a match that whetted the appetite for the weeks ahead.