The England – Sri Lanka test series is finally with us, and I got to catch a little bit of the game last night when we got back from the airport. As it turned out I missed most of the action, because Hoggie had got some favorable conditions and was at his brilliant best. Kudos to Sangakkara for digging his side out of an awful mess, but there’s a limit to what you can do from that sort of position. 188 is not a good first inning score. Except…

This is Kandy; it is Murali’s home ground. He’s just four short of Shane Warne’s record of 708 test wickets in a career. Do I expect the ball to turn square? Of course I do. And in the few overs from Monty that I got to see, there was one ball that pitched in the rough well outside off stump. Sangakkara shouldered arms, and looked on in amazement as the ball cut back viciously and rapped him on the knees. Monty was unlucky not to get an LBW with that one. Given that I love good spin bowling, I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the game.