1. It's not all good news. After Sri Lanka's first innings, much of the chatter surrounded the fact that a four-man attack (and Trott/KP) leaves you with nowhere to go if Swann isn't looking like getting wickets (or if one of your bowlers gets cabbaged). In the light of yesterday's euphoria, the threadbare look of our attack at times in the first innings has been forgotten. Since 2009 four bowlers has worked well for us, despite many similar murmurings. On the whole, you'd probably want Prior at 7 since Swann usually looks a threat. But if there's one team that calls for strong bowling even if it means we lose a bit of batting power, it's India, later in the season. I'll be stunned if we make a call for five batsmen though.
2. But we've never had it so good. Normally losing your main strike bowler would be a bitter blow. But we've got Finn or Onions to come in. If someone else gets injured, there's Shahzad or Dernbach. And behind them is Woakes. While the papers suggested our choice for a position that wasn't even needed was Morgan or Bopara, the fact is that Hildreth, Taylor and several others all look like they could come in and do equally well.Even in the spin department we've got a talented back-up in Panesar and in Rashid someone who has a bit of potential. Enjoy, because it won't last.
3. Sri Lanka will find it tough to come back from this. It was an epic collapse, the result of good bowling, some luck (we got the rub of the green throughout) and some bad batting. Don't bet against runs from Dilshan, Jayawardene or Sangakkara in the rest of the series, but assuming their attack remains the same they'll struggle to take 20 wickets. Wouldn't be surprised if they still gave us a shelacking in the ODIs though.
4. Cardiff seems a poor Test venue. It seems clear that the misgivings expressed by many prior to the Ashes were right: it simply can't attract the crowds when we're playing smaller Test sides to warrant its status.
5. Mendis is a victim of the modern age. Remember this? Or this? Since he burst onto the scene successive teams have had fewer and fewer problems with him. One suspects that the amount of analytical technology out there means that it's easier to face a 'mystery' bowler than ever before.
6. Kevin's problem with left-arm spin is quite bizarre. And it is a problem. A third of his dismissals in recent games, not to mention his occasional first class outings. Lest we forget, this is a man who played Shane Warne better than many during his career and really that should be more difficult than, say, Yuvraj Singh. It's most likely more mental than technical, but then it was hard to make a judgement based on the few balls he faced. As he's said himself, he's got a pretty horrible technique at the best of times.Certainly he's prone to playing against the spin and with hard hands, but that's always been his way. The thing is, while he keeps getting out to them, he seems to do it a different way each time. It wasn't the wisest shot this time round, but it was a horrible ball. One of the problems, at the moment, is that he's not getting a huge amount of time in the middle - certainly we've not batted twice all that often recently.
7. Don't moan about Trott and Cook being boring - we've needed players like this for years. And Trott actually looks very pretty in defence and attack to my eyes. He's the most organised batsman I think I've ever seen. He sticks to a very set pattern (drive the odd wide half-volley, work it off the legs, know where off stump is - there was a pull but he appears to have dispensed with even that). What's good enough for a Test batsman isn't, sadly, good enough for CC when he plays, or most of the people on his team.
8. Geoffrey is really very amusing. 'You can't bat! You've 'ad it! Hoo hoo!' Dear oh dear, it was all quite unseemly in the commentary box on the last day.
2. But we've never had it so good. Normally losing your main strike bowler would be a bitter blow. But we've got Finn or Onions to come in. If someone else gets injured, there's Shahzad or Dernbach. And behind them is Woakes. While the papers suggested our choice for a position that wasn't even needed was Morgan or Bopara, the fact is that Hildreth, Taylor and several others all look like they could come in and do equally well.Even in the spin department we've got a talented back-up in Panesar and in Rashid someone who has a bit of potential. Enjoy, because it won't last.
3. Sri Lanka will find it tough to come back from this. It was an epic collapse, the result of good bowling, some luck (we got the rub of the green throughout) and some bad batting. Don't bet against runs from Dilshan, Jayawardene or Sangakkara in the rest of the series, but assuming their attack remains the same they'll struggle to take 20 wickets. Wouldn't be surprised if they still gave us a shelacking in the ODIs though.
4. Cardiff seems a poor Test venue. It seems clear that the misgivings expressed by many prior to the Ashes were right: it simply can't attract the crowds when we're playing smaller Test sides to warrant its status.
5. Mendis is a victim of the modern age. Remember this? Or this? Since he burst onto the scene successive teams have had fewer and fewer problems with him. One suspects that the amount of analytical technology out there means that it's easier to face a 'mystery' bowler than ever before.
6. Kevin's problem with left-arm spin is quite bizarre. And it is a problem. A third of his dismissals in recent games, not to mention his occasional first class outings. Lest we forget, this is a man who played Shane Warne better than many during his career and really that should be more difficult than, say, Yuvraj Singh. It's most likely more mental than technical, but then it was hard to make a judgement based on the few balls he faced. As he's said himself, he's got a pretty horrible technique at the best of times.Certainly he's prone to playing against the spin and with hard hands, but that's always been his way. The thing is, while he keeps getting out to them, he seems to do it a different way each time. It wasn't the wisest shot this time round, but it was a horrible ball. One of the problems, at the moment, is that he's not getting a huge amount of time in the middle - certainly we've not batted twice all that often recently.
7. Don't moan about Trott and Cook being boring - we've needed players like this for years. And Trott actually looks very pretty in defence and attack to my eyes. He's the most organised batsman I think I've ever seen. He sticks to a very set pattern (drive the odd wide half-volley, work it off the legs, know where off stump is - there was a pull but he appears to have dispensed with even that). What's good enough for a Test batsman isn't, sadly, good enough for CC when he plays, or most of the people on his team.
8. Geoffrey is really very amusing. 'You can't bat! You've 'ad it! Hoo hoo!' Dear oh dear, it was all quite unseemly in the commentary box on the last day.
Geoffrey was similarly gleeful during (it was apparent the man was struggling) and after KP's short innings. I enjoyed his laughter: it's funny in the same way the Australian Run-Machine getting dismissed by a 12 year old is.
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