Vaughan confident England can level series

Michael Vaughan has mixed memories of his two Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club. On his first visit in 2000-01, he fought his way back into the side at the expense of Graeme Hick, and played a supporting role in a famous series-sealing win. Three years later, however, on his first tour as captain, Vaughan experienced cricket's emotional flip-side, as Sri Lanka routed his new charges by the record margin of an innings and 215 runs.

There's no room for a repeat of such a scoreline on this visit. Regardless of the positives that England claim to have carried with them from Kandy, they remain 1-0 down in the series and in serious danger of losing their exalted status as the second-best side in the world. Since the tour of Pakistan in December 2005, England have lost nine Tests out of 12 on foreign soil, with just one win to show for their efforts - Andrew Flintoff's Ring of Fire-inspired triumph at Mumbai in March 2006.

Vaughan personally can take very little of the blame for that record, having been injured for all but three of those contests, but as England's most successful captain of all time, he knows full well it's a record that needs redressing, and fast. Unfortunately, the SSC is not the most hospitable venue for visiting sides. Since England's victory in 2000-01, Sri Lanka have won 10 out of 12 matches - six by an innings and one by 10 wickets. Only the Australians, in a classic contest in 2003-04, have had the better of them, and even they couldn't prevent Muttiah Muralitharan picking up eight wickets along the way.

"We need to start playing some good cricket," said Vaughan, as England completed their final practice session before Saturday's 10am start. "We have to learn from our experiences at Kandy, move on from that, and react in a positive way. First and foremost, one of the building blocks of a good side is: can they show that inner fight? But you need to have that expertise as well, and that's the one area we have to improve."

England fought hard at Kandy, without any question, but they were a team gripped by naivety at critical stages of the first Test. They were paralysed by Murali's menace in the first innings, and then collapsed to the seamers second-time around just when it seemed they'd come to terms with the conditions. And in between whiles, of course, they missed crucial opportunities in the field - not least where Kumar Sangakkara was concerned. "We got ourselves into some great positions," said Vaughan. "We got enough out of that game to suggest Sri Lanka are very beatable on their home shore."

The hasty turnaround between Tests is not too much of a hindrance, according to Vaughan. The cool hilly conditions at Kandy were not remotely as sapping as the sticky humidity that has greeted them in the past at Galle. But the match did take its toll in one respect. Matthew Hoggard, the best of England's seamers by a distance, has been ruled out because of his back injury, which leaves a very significant experience void to be filled.

The smart money suggests it will be Steve Harmison who fills it. He has not played a Test since the West Indies series in June, and on this tour he has looked indifferent as well as insipid in his various appearances at the nets and in the middle. But in England's final practice he galloped to the crease with his enthusiasm reignited, and gave all the batsmen - especially Ian Bell - a serious hurry-up. Opportunities must surely be running out for a man who has contributed next to nothing to Peter Moores' new regime, but now is not the time to give up on a character who was once ranked as the best bowler in the world.

When discussing his maverick team-mate, Vaughan had the look of a man who was fed up of waiting for the inspiration to return to his game, but he hid it well in his words. "I've had a lot of great days with Steve Harmison," said Vaughan. "If you ask any opposition player in the world who they don't want to face in the England set-up, it's usually Steve Harmison's name that crops up. He knows he's close to a Test match and very close to getting into an eleven, so I fully expect him to bowl the way he did today. He's running in full of gas, and Steve at his best has to bowl at a rate of knots. I look forward, if he's selected, to standing at mid-off and watching him bowl."

For all that England were undone in the first Test, Vaughan's assertion that Sri Lanka are vulnerable is not without foundation. In Sangakkara and Muralitharan, they possess the top-ranked batsman and bowler in all of Test cricket - an incredible achievement for a country so small - but beyond those two, Sri Lanka's quality and form is not so thick on the ground. "Take those two out of their attack, and [Chaminda] Vaas, and they are a very inexperienced team," said Vaughan. "That's what we've got to try to get into. If we get those senior players out quickly, and play Murali and Vaas well, we can try to exploit their inexperience."

That is especially true at the top of the order, where there will be no Sanath Jayasuriya to torment the English bowlers. The last time Harmison encountered the Sri Lankans, at Headingley in the fifth ODI in 2006, Jayasuriya lacerated him for 97 runs in ten overs, flinging his forearms at his short wide offerings en route to 152 from 99 deliveries. Sanath's sidekick that day was one Upul Tharanga, who will now partner Michael Vandort in his first Test since the visit of Bangladesh in July, but the memories of his own century at Headingley will not compensate for the undoubted nerves he will be feeling.

Further down the batting card, Jehan Mubarak is in need of runs, after making 0 and 9 in the first Test, and Chamara Silva failed to convince with his form either. But England's struggles are every bit as acute. Ian Bell produced two stylish but ultimately insubstantial innings at Kandy, but he was a lone success among the top six. Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood each made starts without a single half-century between them, while Alastair Cook was suckered twice in seven balls by Vaas's subtle swingers.

Vaughan, however, was adamant that the best remedy for the Kandy experience was to get straight back and do it all again. "It was mentally draining, especially losing, but physically we're fine," he said. That includes James Anderson, who has been labouring with an ankle problem since the warm-ups and has at times looked every bit as hangdog as Harmison. There's no room for moping in the next five days, however. The fate of the series depends on England's bouncebackability.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Michael Vandort, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Jehan Mubarak, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Dilhara Fernando, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Ryan Sidebottom, 9 Steve Harmison, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.