England reached 92 for two from 15 overs before heavy rain forced the match to be abandoned in Dambulla
Our
weather match report has landed, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, see you on Saturday.
Related: England’s first ODI with Sri Lanka abandoned after heavy rain
Related: Crisp, clear, fun: TalkSport’s opening cricket stint avoids apocalypse | Barney Ronay
I’m down for the second ODI on Saturday with Simon Burnton. One of us will have to start work at 4.30am, probably with nothing to do other than watch the rain fall. Good thing I made that urgent dental appointment for 6am on Saturday morning.
The teams will stay in Dambulla for the second washout of the series on Saturday. There is at least a reserve day for that match, although at this rate we may need a reserve month.
Parts of the outfield were unsafe, so the match has been called off despite the noble work of the groundstaff.
Who’d be a groundstaffer?
“If a player scores no runs, takes no wickets and shells all catches that come their way they’ll be dropped,” says Dave Brown. “Strangely, if a cricket administrator arranges fixtures during Sri Lanka’s rainy season I guess they’ll still keep their job.”
Maybe it’s a subtle protest against cricket saturation.
There is a substantial patch of outfield - roughly deep backward point when looking from the grandstand - that has been the subject of much debate out in the middle. Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and three Sri Lankans were all stood out there chatting away. Appears that’s the section which remains a bit of a quagmire, despite the efforts of the groundstaff (who, for my money, should be splitting the oversized cheque for man of the match whatever happens). And as I type this, both Eoin Morgan and England vice-captain Jos Buttler are heading over there to have a look at it.
The words on the grapevine are:
In other news, China got off to a solid start in the World T20 qualifier against Nepal, reaching 21 for one after 6.1 oh.
And here’s Andrew Milligan on all things DLS
“According to an FAQ on DLS (the professional version is a piece of software):
Greetings Rob and chums. News from the ground is that there will be an inspection at 8.15pm local time following an incredible operation by the army of groundstaff in removing the all-covering tarps. There were lakes earlier and much of this water has been shifted to well beyond the ropes. But is the ground playable? Those who have been out in the middle say it remains very soggy under foot. So touch and go still, annoyingly, despite the encouraging images being beamed back. Gah.
Or perhaps not
Covers are off in Dambulla but the ground is seriously wet and we might not see any more action
If there is more play - and that looks likely now - England will resume on 92 for two from 15 overs. They will have five more overs to bat, after which their 20-over score will be DLS adjusted to find Sri Lanka’s target.
“Good afternoon,” says John Starbuck. “A question I posed earlier: is there an app for Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculating used by scorers, or does someone have to work it out each time from scratch? Can OBO writers do it?”
I can work it out for you. All I need are your bank details. Er, yeah, it looks like there’s one on iTunes, though it doesn’t appear to be official.
There will be a pitch inspection at 3.30pm BST (8pm local time).
Hello everyone. Things looked well apocalyptic a few hours ago, yet we still might get some more cricket. The groundstaff - does anybody ever think of the groundstaff - are currently wading through puddles in an attempt to get the pitch ready for a 20-over slog. Bless them.
Blue beginning to become green, but not sure the ball will cope well if it lands in that puddle beyond the boundary...
https://t.co/jrasHcW6Pz
@BBCSport App
#BBCCricket#SLvENGpic.twitter.com/bxKV2fYtGh
Right, that’s my slightly damp stint over for the day. The estimable Rob Smyth will be on hand to guide you through the clean up and thrash.
And, as if commanded by the OBO gods, the rain seems to have ceased and the Dambulla groundstaff are working on the covers. The suggestion is it may take up to 90 minutes to get the surface playable, so we could be looking at something pretty close to a 20-20 if– and it’s a big if – the rain now stays away.
So we’re coming up to two hours of lost play, with at least another hour needed for the clean up. I make that at least 46 overs lost, which would mean 27 overs a side (or thereabouts) if it stopped raining now. Right now.
The rain has got a little heavier again so hopes are beginning to fade a touch in Dambulla. There’s plenty of time before the cut-off but it’ll take an hour before we get play again after the rain stops … and it hasn’t stopped yet.
An update but not much of an update: it’s still raining, the covers are still on and I’m going to warm up my pasta.
Gah! Live pictures show the rain still coming down pretty steadily, so here’s some reading while we wait for things to dry out:
Related: Fifa’s treatment of Women’s World Cup final keeps ‘virus’ contained | Marina Hyde
Related: Next Generation 2018: 20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs
There’s no rain in Dubai, where Australia are up against it against Pakistan …
Australia could conceivably have two 100-run opening stands, lose by 300 runs, with three debutants, getting rinsed by a debutant, in a game decried by many as boring. Even when Test cricket is bad, it’s still hilarious, and actually good.
Related: Australia’s familiar collapse leaves Pakistan in control of first Test
The rain is apparently easing now in Dambulla, which is nice.
We’ve just seen some footage of the rain. The word “torrential” springs to mind.
There was an hour’s buffer built into today’s schedule but with the rain now heavy we’re looking at a reduced-overs game. How reduced, of course, remains to be seen …
“After returning from our Sri Lankan honeymoon earlier this month (where we stopped by Dambulla and Kandy – and lovely it was too), lots of the locals were puzzled as to why these locations were selected for the series’, what with both areas in the midst / start of their respective ‘rainy seasons’,” writes Mark Lewis. “Any ideas? Or is this just to shoehorn in the 237 pre-Christmas-days-play…”
Have to admit, I’m none-the-wiser. There’s rain forecast every day for the next week at least.
Here’s our man in Dambulla
Ian McCaskill
John Kettley
Michael Fish Ali Martin:
Greetings John ... bit of a frustrating scene here at the ground. Curiously it’s only the lightest whisp of rain but looking into the distance it is properly filled in with the odd flash of lightning and you suspect it is about to properly rod it down. There is a giant golden statue of Buddha on a far away hillock that is starting to disappear. First time in Sri Lanka for me and so first time watching the army of groundstaff pull off their cover-the-entire-ground trick during play. Tarps, weighed down by car tyres, right up to and over the boundary ropes in a matter of minutes. Sensational.
More good news: the covers are covering the entire field of play. More bad news: the rain is now coming down.
The good news is that it’s not raining – the bad news is that that’s because it’s not actually started yet. We’re in precautionary mode. In the meantime, why not get Jos Buttler’s thoughts on the series in video format:
Gah! The rain that has been looming ominously seems to have arrived, and the wind has picked up ferociously.
15th over: England 92-2 (Morgan 14, Root 25) Dananjaya keeps Root honest by losing the bells and whistles and keeping things simple with some accurate, nagging off-breaks. Just two from the over.
14th over: England 90-2 (Morgan 13, Root 24) The busy Dananjaya makes a fine diving stop on the leg-side boundary as Root flicks Malinga away once more, though this is a much better over from the veteran … until the last, which is a leggish short one that Root pulls effortlessly away for four.
13th over: England 83-2 (Morgan 13, Root 18) Dananjaya continues and Root muscles him through the covers off the back foot for four. Fine shot. Morgan looks slightly less comfortable against the spinner and gets squared up by one, though just as I type that he slog-sweeps the last emphatically over square leg for six, so what do I know.
12th over: England 70-2 (Morgan 6, Root 12) There’s a bit of cloud coming in and there’s a good chance of rain in the next hour or so. The forecast is fine after that, though the dry weather so far today has been the exception rather than the norm in Dambulla at the moment.
Root clips the returning Malinga away for four to backward square leg and from the last the bowler strays on to Morgan’s pads and gets tickled to fine leg for more more. Eleven from the over.
11th over: England 59-2 (Morgan 1, Root 6) Dananjaya opens his selection box of deliveries again and Morgan gets off the mark with a drive down to long on for a single.
Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow the first England partnership (any wicket) past 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year with 1,009 from just 18 innings. Next best Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick in 2002 with 794 from 24...
10th over: England 55-2 (Morgan 0, Root 5)“Boom, boom, boom. Lemme hear you say wayoh! Wayoh!” Are cricket grounds the only place you’ll hear the Outhere Brothers in 2018? Probably. Hopefully. Sri Lanka have their collective tail up and Pradeep has his head in his hands after finding’s Root’s edge and seeing the ball fly through the vacant second slip area. Four of the flakiest for Root. There’s a huge appeal from the last as Root is cut in two by one that moves back in to the right-hander. There’s a noise as it flies through to the keeper but it’s off the thigh pad.
9th over: England 51-2 (Morgan 0, Root 1) So 49-0 becomes 51-2. Dananjaya beats Morgan’s outside edge with a beauty from round the wicket.
Oh, this is pretty horrible from Jason Roy. He has a big heave at the spinner and can only sky the ball straight to mid on.
8th over: England 49-1 (Roy 23, Root 0) An important breakthrough for Sri Lanka then. There was a brief pause while the third umpire checked that the catch had carried through to Dickwalla but Bairstow has gone.
Pradeep continues and we get the first moment of concern for England, bowler and keeper appealing vociferously as Roy misses a pull that zips over his shoulder. And from the last ball of the over Sri Lanka do have the breakthrough, Bairstow feathering a drive through to the keeper.
7th over: England 48-0 (Roy 22, Bairstow 25) Time for spin! Akila Dananjaya comes into the attack. He’s nominally an off-spinner but tends to mix it up. Bairstow misses out on a full-toss from an attempted leg-break and it’s a tidy over until the final two balls, one of which Bairstow carts over the midwicket boundary for six, the other he lashes square on the off side for four.
6th over: England 37-0 (Roy 21, Bairstow 15) Chandimal resists the urge to turn to spin and has Pradeep continuing. That’s music to Roy’s ears – he crunches a full delivery over mid on for four. A fuss-free seven from the over.
5th over: England 30-0 (Roy 15, Bairstow 14) Yuck – Malinga drops horribly short again, so the ball sits up and screams “HIT ME!” Bairstow does just that and picks up four more through backward point.
“A dirty turner is either a wood lathe operator who doesn’t wash,” begins John Starbuck, “or the second male lead in Pirates of the Caribbean, who also doesn’t wash but then they all get dunked in the sea so often they probably don’t feel the need.” I’m going to assume that makes sense to somebody – the POTC films aren’t exactly my specialist subject.
4th over: England 25-0 (Roy 14, Bairstow 10) This is already looking a touch ominous for Sri Lanka. Threat level: zero. And England’s opening pair look very much in the groove. Bairstow hits the cover fielder with a thumping drive but steers the next ball wide of the man and through for four. A couple of balls later he repeats the trick: four more!
3rd over: England 17-0 (Roy 14, Bairstow 2) Roy does well to dig out a Malinga slow-yorker and celebrates next ball by heaving a short one to midwicket for four. And next up there’s another – Malinga aiming for another yorker and instead providing a leg-side full toss that Roy flicks, slightly awkwardly, away for four more.
2nd over: England 7-0 (Roy 6, Bairstow 1) Pradeep, returning to the Sri Lanka ODI side for the first time since January, steams in from the other end. Bairstow is watchful, then gets off the mark with a slightly squirty push down to third man for a single. Roy gets up on his tippy toes to push through the covers for a couple more from the last.
“I hope this turns out to be a keenly contested match,” writes Don Mihsill. “Sri Lanka seem to be rotating the same set of ‘promising’ batsmen, neither giving them continuity (of opportunities) nor discarding them. Speaking of dirty turners, what all would qualify as one? A defence witness who has turned? A country road with a wide bend? A public official called Turner with a reputation for underhand dealings? Oh the possibilities.”
1st over: England 4-0 (Roy 4, Bairstow 0) It’s 2007 all over again, as Lasith Malinga opens the bowling for Sri Lanka. He’s arrow-straight with his first few deliveries and Roy responds in kind. The fourth, though, drifts towards the leg side and Roy thunks confidently wide of mid on for four.
Out come the players – play is imminent.
Russell Arnold says the pitch is a good one and isn’t a “dirty turner”, which is a tremendous phrase that I’m going to bring into my regular rotation.
Here’s Ali once more: “Another point of mild interest is that England will play in their T20 solar red to avoid a kit clash. As Henry Moeran of the BBC quipped, no word yet on what happens for the Test series ...”
On Sky Sports, Mike Atherton says Liam Plunkett isn’t in the squad because “he’s getting married for the first three games”. Crikey, how long are the speeches going to be?
Sri Lanka: Tharanga, Dickwella, Chandimal, K Perera, De Silva, T Perera, Shanaka, Dananjaya, Pradeep, Sandakan, Malinga,
England: Roy Bairstow, Root, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Moeen, Woakes, Dawson, Rashid, Stone.
Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal wins the toss – he decides to have a bowl first.
Here’s our man in Dambulla, Ali Martin:
Morning John and chums, from Dambulla, where Olly Stone, the headline writers’ dream, is indeed making his England debut and Liam Dawson also plays. Mark Wood and the Currans miss out, plus Bangladesh-bound Alex Hales. Hot day here with fluffy white clouds and blue sky in patches. We saw a huge infestation of flying insects when England trained last night, but the floodlights on the nets were much lower than those in the ground so hopefully the little critters don’t affect the fielding side too much later on. In other wildlife news, I had a family of monkeys - Toque Macaques to be precise - on my balcony this morning. I’m no expert but from the body language, they too seemed baffled by Sri Lanka’s omission of Angelo Mathews....
We’re still awaiting the toss and teams but Olly Stone is expected to make his England debut:
Related: England look to Olly Stone’s raw power to unsettle Sri Lanka
It’s four weeks and one day since the final day’s play of the final Test of the English cricketing summer. It’s barely a fortnight since the counties called it a day for the season. If you’re anything like me you’ll still be digesting the poignant farewells, still be ruminating on the beautiful paeans to another season been and gone, still be picturing the shadows lengthening across a yellowing square in the last of the low summer sun.
Well, SNAP OUT OF IT! This isn’t the 1920s, you know. You can’t spend three months on a paddle steamer going halfway round the world to play another three months’ worth of knockabout warmups against a series of village sides. This is MODERN SPORT. You finish playing, you take off your whites, you plunge your aching body into some sort of cryogenic bath in an oxygen tent, you dry yourself off, you put on your ODI gear and YOU GET OUT THERE AND YOU PLAY SOME BLOODY CRICKET.
Related: How Sri Lanka’s magical 1996 cocktail paved the way for Morgan’s men | The Spin
Related: Eoin Morgan prepared to drop himself from England side at World Cup
Continue reading...