Bopara in the ascendancy for first Test

Matthew Hoggard has seen it all before in the course of his 64-Test career, while Ravi Bopara is still in his international infancy, but both men look set to feature in the first Test at Kandy next week after carrying England's fortunes on a fluctuating second day against the Sri Lanka Board President's XI in Colombo.

Hoggard was the statistical star of the day, grabbing 5 for 25 in a probing nine-over spell as he made light of the injuries that have put his fellow fast bowlers, Steve Harmison and James Anderson, out of action in this innings. But it was the 22-year-old Bopara who captured the imagination, first by top-scoring amid a batting collapse with a calm and stylish 47, and then by picking up 2 for 32 as an emergency new-ball bowler.

"Ravi showed a lot of application with his batting and then to come out with the new ball and bowl like he did was lovely to see," said Hoggard afterwards. "He brings a lot of energy to the team, he fields really well, and he's one of those team members you always want around the squad."

Bopara began this match as the understudy looking in. Owais Shah's name had been pencilled for the first Test, but now there seems little doubt which player is in the ascendancy. Shah managed a tortuous 26 before missing with a loose drive; Bopara's stay, on the other hand, was only cut short when the tail started folding around him.

"The bowlers had a great day and the batters had a shocker," Bopara said afterwards, having begun his day's work with England in crisis at 44 for 4. "I knew I needed to score runs, not just survive. That's the mental approach I take to batting. I like to take it to the bowlers."

On the first day, England did well to prise nine Sri Lankan batsmen from the crease; today, by contrast, 17 wickets tumbled. "The pitch had a little bit more bounce in it yesterday," said Bopara. "When it did things it did it more slowly so you had time to adjust and time to watch the ball. Today it was a bit lower, and it seemed quicker as well."

Hoggard agreed that, in spite of the scorelines, the conditions had not been outrageously favourable to the bowlers. "It wasn't hooping round corners," he said, "it was just taking a little bit of shape and sometimes shape is better than swing. It gripped a bit more and luckily we put the ball in the right areas often enough."

If Hoggard's performance was only to be expected, Bopara's was a revelation. He trapped Malinda Warnapura lbw with his 10th delivery, completed the run-out of Sujeewa de Silva with a clean pick-up at the non-striker's end, and then capped his performance by ending the resistance of Sri Lanka's only mainstay, the opener Mahela Udawatte, who was eighth out for 45.

But Bopara himself was not unduly surprised by his success. "I've taken the new ball a couple of times for Essex due to injuries, and I've had a few wickets every time I've done it," he said. "You've always got a chance of a wicket with the new ball, so it's quite exciting. It's going to be a massive part of my career, and I want to get the most out of my bowling ability."