To sweep or not to sweep
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
AFP
"To sweep or not to sweep, that is the question facing England's batsmen as they attempt to finalise a strategy to overcome the most dangerous bowler in the world – Muttiah Muralitharan," says Angus Fraser in the Independent.
What's it like facing Muttiah Muralitharan? Three of the batsmen he's dismissed the most number of times - Mark Boucher, Grant Flower and Khaled Mashud - give us an insight in the Guardian.
Boucher: Murali doesn't try to get into your head as much as [Shane] Warne does, but he turns the ball on anything and often the lack of bounce in a pitch is just as dangerous for batsmen - if it turns square from outside off you've got a much better chance of keeping the ball out if you can play it just below the splice than if it's squirting around your ankles. Murali gets it to squirt square!
"Ravi Bopara has faced Muralitharan twice before, but while full of respect, refuses to be cowed by a bowler," writes Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.
I've faced him when he played for Lancashire and in that World Cup game, and he's a great bowler, he wouldn't have had 704 wickets if he wasn't. I can spot his doosra some of the time, but it's a bit more difficult when he comes around the wicket. If you watch hard enough you should be able to pick it. If not you're in trouble. But there's another bloke who's got to bowl from the other end so there's places to score."
"Here are two dilemmas, each almost as difficult as the other. Who should bat at No 6 for England in Kandy this weekend, Owais Shah or Ravi Bopara? And, no less relevant in a wider context than the first Test against Sri Lanka, who should make the decision?" asks Christopher Martin-Jenkins in the Times.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo