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England vulnerable to Muralitharan's spin
'England vulnerable against spin' - is somewhat stating the obvious. Let us not forget that some 30 months ago they had some answers to Sri Lanka's spin attack. Then they were fresh from a victory in Pakistan. Visualizing how they tackled spin in that country would have been a major strength.

In Galle they missed Michael Atherton, Alec Stewart and Nassar Hussein from the last tour. Hussein, pulled out at the last minute due to illness.

The right hand batsmen countered Muralitharan by standing on off stump to negate the spin. That worked well, as it took the off spinner by surprise.

On this tour their big three are left handers in Thorpe, Butcher and Trescothick. Strangely Murali prefers bowling to right-handers. This means that all the responsibility has to be shouldered by this trio. Hussein when he gets back and captain Vaughan have to add some muscle, or else England will struggle through the series.

The pitch at Galle was slow and assisted the spinners from day one. That is its character. In particular when most of the grass is removed and watering is stopped early. That is the manner in which a test match pitch is prepared in Galle and in most other test venues in Sri Lanka.

At times this pitch has been a nightmare for batsmen after day one. On this occasion the top surface did not break up and powder, and get to the bat at all heights. It was slow with consistent spin.

It was difficult to score runs but was a challenge for the batsmen. They had to use their feet and move quickly and sensibly to the pitch of the ball. They had to choose the correct stroke for each delivery, be it attacking or defensive. A tremendous amount of concentration was necessary.

Even after doing all that a batsman could get undone playing Muttiah Muralitharan. He simply revels on this pitch. Because he has the ability to get the ball to turn quickly he stands head and shoulders over all the other spinners and so he simply dominates.

It is natural for teams not to take any undue risks in the first of a three match series. More so in the first innings of the game. Having won the toss Sri Lanka was cautious. They lost the rhythm also on day one as rain intervened. In all, they labored for 127 overs to reach 331 runs. Muralitharan's cameo 38 helped take the run rate to above 2.5 per over. Fifty runs more in around fifteen less overs would have provided the ideal platform.

The match selectors choice of taking the field with five spinners and two pace men was a strange decision. Debutant Dinusha Fernando only made up the numbers. Tilan Samaraweera did not bowl a single over in the first innings. On a turning pitch Muralitharan will happily reel off from one end for as long as his captain wants him to.

One or two of the other spinners may not even get to bowl. Or the captain may take the wrong choice. Particularly as there is not much to choose between Dharmasena, Upul Chandana, Samaraweera and Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya automatically gets in as a batsman. One of the other three should have given way for a specialist batsman.

Lesson to carry into the next test match.

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