Big picture
When the cry went up in the wake of an abject T20I series: “Something must be done about Sri Lanka’s batting”, this probably wasn’t the solution that anyone had envisaged. An evening spent milling about by a bench in Durham’s Market Square for Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka has left the squad in even greater disarray than had been the case after three singularly one-sided encounters in Cardiff and Southampton.
It’s not been a good week for the ECB’s bio-secure protocols – so robust (give or take Jofra Archer’s unscheduled home visit) throughout last summer’s agenda-setting response to the Covid outbreak. Already we’ve had the match referee, Phil Whitticase, test positive for the virus after discharging his duties in the T20Is, while last week’s Edgbaston pitch invasion won’t have done the sport’s lobbying for the return of full crowds many favours.
It would be nice to be able to predict a humdinging ODI series to compensate for all the off-field kerfuffle – Tuesday’s match will, after all, be the first 50-over game to have been staged in front of a paying crowd since the emotional scenes at the World Cup final, almost 24 months ago. But in all honesty, the threat of England’s bowling attack, the hunger of their heavy-hitting batters and the timidity of their now-depleted opponents would tend to guard against over-excitement.
And so here we are. The team is back in its most northern climes, but with the best will in the world, this is not the homecoming that Durham’s organisers had envisaged. Last summer’s rescheduled first T20I against Australia ought to have been the occasion to celebrate the club’s contribution to a famous national victory – but now, Stokes’ recovery from a broken finger means they won’t even get to watch their main man in action. But at least there’s Wood – in tune with his body these days, and all the more ready to bomb in at full tilt again after being rested for Saturday’s match at the Ageas Bowl.
There’s another factor set to compete for local attention too. As luck would have it, England versus Germany in the last 16 of Euro 2020 has been scheduled to kick off at 5pm on Tuesday, which is more or less when the climax of the cricket is intended to take place. The sport has had previous in this regard, of course – at Old Trafford in 2002, Alec Stewart’s century against Sri Lanka was compiled while many of the fans were out on the concourse watching England take on (and beat) Denmark in that summer’s World Cup. England, you suspect, may be extra incentivised to get this contest done and dusted in good time for kick-off.
Form guide
(completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLLW
Sri Lanka WLLLL
In the spotlight
Pitch and conditions
The sun is set to shine, which is the first hurdle cleared. If the venue’s scores for this season’s Vitality Blast are anything to go by, then a high-scoring contest ought to be in store, with Nottinghamshire posting 195 for 5 in their victory last week, but with no team in five completed games yet scoring less than 151.
Team news
England: (possible) 1 Dawid Malan, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Liam Livingstone / Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Billings, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: (possible) 1 Kusal Perera (capt, wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Oshada Fernando, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Ramesh Mendis, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Lakshan Sandakan/Binura Fernando, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Pradeep
Stats and trivia
Quotes
“We were heavy favourites for that game and we lost, so we can’t drop the ball here. We’ve got to stay on it and make sure that we’re putting in another good performance because they have got some top-class players.”
England fast bowler Mark Wood recalls England’s surprise set-back against Sri Lanka in 2019.
“Because we are in a bio-bubble there’s no way we can bring anyone from Sri Lanka. If we lose these players (Mendis, Dickwella, and Gunathilaka) it’ll become a problem for us at selection. We have no choice but to play the younger players.”
Sri Lanka’s captain Kusal Perera
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket