English armour dented by Sri Lankan pride
England had only themselves to blame, as Sri Lanka pulled off one of the most spectacular escapes of all time, says Andrew Miller
Andrew Miller at Lord's
15-May-2006
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A fortnight ago, a charity fundraiser by the name of Lloyd Scott
limped to the end of the London Marathon, a full eight days behind the
rest of the competitors. Admittedly, he was dressed in a suit of
armour and dragging an eight-foot dragon behind him, which hampered
his progress somewhat, but at least he didn't compound his woes by
adding another 12 miles to the distance he had to cover.
That was the sort of stunt that England's cricketers tried to pull off
in this match. At 91 for 6 with a humungous deficit to surmount, Sri
Lanka's ambitions had been reduced to two damage-limiting aims -
avoiding the innings defeat, and taking the game to the fifth day. And
yet, as chance after chance was shelled in the slip cordon, so their
confidence swelled and along with it, their pride. The end result must
be ranked as one of the most sensational escapes of all time.
Lord's is a venue that can inspire or overawe you, said Kumar
Sangakkara at the midway point of this Test, and Sri Lanka have
demonstrated that both can be true in the same match. Their young and
unproven side was caught cold in the sunshine of the first two days,
but as the chilly conditions returned so the ghosts of performances
past began to surge up their spines. And England began to feel desperate.
Perhaps we should not be surprised at Sri Lanka's resilience. This was
the fourth time they had made 500 runs in an innings against England -
but two of those occasions came on their last two visits to London: at
The Oval in 1998 and here at Lord's in 2002, a match that England
themselves had to pull from the fire in the follow-on, after conceding
a first-innings deficit of 280.
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And let's not forget their first and most fabulous appearance at
Lord's - in the late summer of 1984, when a complacent England were
flogged for 491 of the finest by Siddath Wettimuny and Duleep Mendis.
Twenty-two years later, Mahela Jayawardene was the star as he added
his name to the Lord's honours board for the second time in as many
visits, but new heroes were unearthed at every turn - from the young
opener Upul Tharanga, who established a platform for defiance with a
classy 52, to the tailenders Farveez Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara,
whose strokeplay sparkled as England's belief began to wilt.
No fewer than seven Sri Lankans made half-centuries in the innings -
only the third time such a feat had been achieved in Test cricket, and
for the first time in 80 years, every player in the team improved on
their first-innings performance. But the stand-out stat was the one
that made the difference. England dropped nine of the 22 chances that
came their way in the match, and any of the three that went down today
could have enabled a face-saving run-chase.
Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Geraint Jones and Paul Collingwood all
erred twice, but if any chance could be said to have made or broken
the game, it was the one that fell to captain Velcro himself. When
Andrew Flintoff's bucket hands reprieved Chamara Kapugedera at second
slip in just the third over of the final day, the modus operandi of his captaincy was fatally undermined.
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For Flintoff it has been a salutary lesson in the hardships of
international leadership, and a timely one as well. His cheery grin as
the Sri Lankans left the field for tea was proof that he has not yet
lost his good humour, but perhaps in the circumstances it was high
time that he had. One of the harsh truths about the job is being
likeable isn't always an option, as his predecessors, Nasser Hussain
and Michael Vaughan, would both be quick to testify.
Sometimes it is necessary to deliver a rocket up the backsides of your
underperforming players. In Mumbai such drastic action was not needed
- Flintoff was able to lead through inspiration alone, and his team
rode a crest of euphoria to secure a remarkable triumph. But when the
magic touch deserted him and his team-mates today, he responded in the
only manner he really knew - by patching up his blisters and charging
in for another spell.
So much for letting Freddie take it easy this summer. He has just
become the first England seamer since Martin Bicknell and Mark Ilott
at Headingley in 1993 to send down 50 overs in an innings, and only
twice in his career has he bowled more than that number in an entire
match. Letting him lead the side is like putting Boxer the carthorse
in charge of Animal Farm. His mantra of "I must work harder" is
admirable but flawed, as his under-recognition of Monty Panesar would
testify.
Of course, Flintoff is no carthorse, but if his only solution in
adversity is to mark out his run-up for another tilt, then that's what
he risks becoming. And if that comes to pass, then England will find
their attempts to win marathons - even inside the regular distance - as cumbersome as that man in his suit of armour, dragging an
eight-foot dragon.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo