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SLBC President's XI v England XI, Colombo, 3rd day
Vaughan confident England are ready
Andrew Miller in Colombo
November 27, 2007
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Michael Vaughan spent more useful time in the middle making 32 and feels England are hitting their straps at the right time ahead of the first Test
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Michael Vaughan believes England are ready to face Sri Lanka in the
first Test at Kandy on Saturday, after watching his side dig deep for
a five-wicket victory over the Sri Lanka Board President's XI in
Colombo. At one stage in the game, England were facing embarrassment
after being bowled out for a mere 134 in their first innings, but they
eventually won comfortably thanks to Matthew Hoggard's five-wicket
haul and a pair of fifties from Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen.
Vaughan, who has toured Sri Lanka twice before - in 2000-01 and
2003-04 - knows full well the value of a win on the subcontinent.
"It's always difficult in this part of the world, so this was a good
game of cricket for us to win," he said. "More importantly we feel
we've had a good amount of time out in the middle, whether it's
bowling or batting. We feel we're in good spirits going into the first
Test.
"How much of an impact this result has on the Tests remains to be
seen," he added. "But yesterday we were looking like losing, so to
come through and win shows a lot of character, which is a good sign
for the team. We'd have liked a hundred in this game because there
hasn't been one on the trip so far, but everyone's hitting the ball
nicely and hopefully they are in good form."
England's preparations have not been without their setbacks, and
Vaughan admitted that the back injury that ruled Steve Harmison out of
the final two days was "disappointing". He has managed just 16.3 overs
in two matches since arriving in the country from South Africa, and
remains a major doubt for the opening Test.
Harmison was at least given the all-clear after undergoing a scan at
the local hospital, and had been scheduled to bat if needed. "We're
going to monitor him over the next 48 hours," said Vaughan. "Yesterday
he was moving very gingerly, but today he was moving more freely and
was going to go in next, so that's a good sign."
In the absence of both Harmison and James Anderson, it was left to the
unlikely pairing of Hoggard and Ravi Bopara to rescue England's
fortunes. They did so quite dramatically, with Bopara's performance
proving especially timely given England's eagerness to find an
alternative allrounder to Andrew Flintoff.
Vaughan, however, would not be drawn on the deliberations faced by the
selectors in the coming days, especially as Bopara's rival for the No.
6 slot, Owais Shah, also had a good day with 33 not out. "Ravi's had a
good start to the trip, and he's an exciting cricketer," said Vaughan.
"But Ace was out there at the end and that time in the middle will be
invaluable for him. The final eleven was always going to be a tough
one, and that No. 6 position is going to be especially tough whichever
way we go."
Numbers 8 to 11 will also be a concern for England, as the tail didn't
manage a run between them in the first innings. "It's always something
to worry about," said Vaughan. "The guys are working hard in the nets,
but facing Murali down the bottom end is always difficult. But we've
got to try and get 20 wickets, and I think you have to go in with the
four bowlers who will get you those 20 wickets."
Run-scoring is sure to be hard for all batsmen in this series, not
just the tail, but Vaughan felt that the lessons learnt in the past
week would help no end. "You need to be able to defend more out here,
and you need your areas to score," he said. "It's a fine line for
batting in all conditions. Their attack is very experienced and
disciplined, so there will be times when it's difficult to score, but
I'm sure there'll be times we can get on top of them."
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo
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