"Pathetic" and "spineless"

After a dismal performance by England on the third day at Galle, where they were bowled out for 81, the players won’t want to read the British newspapers.

Described as "pathetic" and "spineless", England were blasted in Friday morning's editions with Paul Newman in the Daily Mail "as someone once famously put it, England had only three problems: they could not bat, bowl or field".

Their total fell well below their previous innings low against Sri Lanka of 148 in Colombo on the previous tour in 2003. In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins said they were given a harsh cricketing lesson.

"Even allowing, as one fairly must, for the excellence of Sri Lanka's cricket ... yesterday was a shameful performance by England. One by one, over the three matches of this short, intense and now one-sided series, the established stars of the home team have given England's young and naive side painful reminders of their quality."

Angus Fraser, in the Independent, also noted the third day's play "highlighted the huge gulf that now exists between these two sides".

"For 149 overs, England had lumbered in the field, dropping catches, bowling with indiscipline and at times looking totally disinterested in the game they were playing…The sight of one beleaguered England batsman trooping to the pavilion after another brought back memories of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in 1994 when Michael Atherton's side were bowled out for 46 by a West Indies side inspired by Curtly Ambrose."

Back in the Daily Mail the focus went on the contrasting performances in the match of Jayawardene and England captain Michael Vaughan.

"Never can Vaughan have been so outplayed, so out-thought and completely out-manoeuvred by an opposing captain…This was a return to the bad old days of the mid-Nineties, when Michael Atherton seemingly had to fight a lone battle to bring any semblance of professionalism to a desperate England side. Yesterday they were bereft of ideas, passion and the team spirit of which they are so proud."

The feeling in England’s dressing room was summed up in The Sun, never one to pull any punches after shocking sporting performances.

Make no mistake, our festive flops were well and truly stuffed. Maybe the 12-hour flight home in time for Christmas dinner will help erase this shambles from their minds.