Test Cricket: The resurgence of England and Sri Lanka

What a spectacular week for test cricket! Two fantastic matches, which on the last day, could have gone towards any team. But the better teams kept their nerves and won the series along with the match.

Sri Lanka deserve a special mention. They have held England in England 1-1. Then beaten them 5-0 in the ODI series and now, at home, they have comprehensively beaten South Africa 2-0. They are the most promising team of the year and we should be looking forward to their future series. The change in captain was a welcome move for them as Mahela Jayawardena just keeps on getting better and better. His knock in the last innings of the last match against the SAFs was one of the most memorable innings played under pressure that I remember watching. Murali as usual spun a web and continues to be the genius that he has been for so many years. Other bowlers have also supported him very well, the most interesting being Malinga. Sangakkara and Jayasuria are also hitting good runs and helping Mahela along. Kudos to the Lions. Sri Lanka was my favourite team at the time of 1996 world cup and they seem to be getting close to that sort of form once more.

England's easy series win has been a bit of a surprise. How often do you see a team making > 525 in the first innings and go on to loose a test match easily? That's what Pakistan did yesterday and they must be utterly disappointed that they could not hang on for one day. As I had written earlier, The two Ys and the I have been good but there has been absolutely no support from other batsmen and that has proved to be critical. England turned all the screws on them with brilliant batting, bowling and Fielding. I am reallly happy for England with their two wins. This now means that they will be ready, charged and raring to go at the Champs in the Ashes. They have many things working for them - the outstanding forms of Bell, Cook, Pieterson, Strauss and Trescothick. Peiterson and Strauss's efforts were kind of expected but both Cook and Bell have been sensational. Of all of them, my favourite continues to be Kevin and he is already moving up places in my all time favourite cricketrs' list. He said at the start of the match that he sees a century coming his way soon and he hit one in the first innings! Isn't that brave? He has that ruthless arrogance and confidence in him which makes him extremely dangerous. He has no fear of failure. In my opinion, he will be on of the best batsmen of this decade. As expected, Harmison has bowled beautifully but the real surprise weapon was Monty Panesar. He has improved his game by leaps and bounds to compete now with the top spinners in the world. His will have be a pivotal role if England are to match Australia.

According to the form of the day, I cannot put my money on Australians for winning the Ashes. I badly want England to win the Ashes and I think they look good to do so on paper but then the Champions are always hard to beat. It all makes up for an even more exciting Ashes tourney. Can't wait for it to start...

Cheers,
- Tosh