Galle faces washout
Will Luke
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Miller/Getty Images
It won't take much, Derek Pringle tells us in today's Telegraph, for the Galle Test to be washed out as heavy and prolonged rains are forecast.
So it is a huge shame that torrential rain and a squabble over building regulations threaten to ruin the Galle Test, due to start on Tuesday, which many feel could provide symbolic closure for a region so badly afflicted on that fateful Boxing Day three years ago.
Tropical rain tends to be as heavy as the tropical sun is hot, though when one follows the other, a balance is struck. Not so yesterday morning in Galle, where a prolonged downpour, but no sun, left the outer third of the outfield several inches under water. Mobile pumps had reduced this by late afternoon, but with more rain forecast, it would not take much for the opening day to be abandoned, which would be a huge blow to England's chances of levelling the series.
In the same paper Geoff Boycott demands Graeme Swann is given his chance at the expense of Ravi Bopara ("a nice lad").
Meanwhile, Alastair Cook rates his 81 in the first innings at Colombo as one of his "most satisfying".
Will Luke is assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo