England's bowlers had a strange morning, occasionally bowling excellantly, taking some very good wickets, but sometimes appearing to be trying to see who could best imitate Mitchell Johnson with some leg side filth. Steven Finn, who most people think is the likeliest member of the attack to be dropped for Anderson, took 4-108, and in the meantime became the youngest England player to reach 50 Test wickets, but then his inexperience (at the age of just 22) shone as he tried to bounce out the tailenders instead of just attacking the stumps, almost killed Suranga Lakmal and inevitably missed out on his fifer.
Meanwhile, Stuart Broad, Test bowling average of 36, manages to retain his place in the side with 1-125. In my opinion (which is unlikely to be heard by the England selectors), Broad needs to be dropped for a few months to have some time in County cricket. His average has been steadily on the rise for the last year, and is ridiculous for a Test bowler. Like Pietersen, who I refuse to talk about, the selectors seem to have him in the side for thoughts of better times, like when he ripped through Australia in 2009. Finn is a better Test match bowler than Broad, and certainly deserves a run in the side.
On to the England innings, Strauss joins a certain person in having trouble with left-armed bowlers. Although the ball from UWMBYMCA Welegedara was magnificent, and practically unplayable, Strauss needs to fix the problem before it consumes him like it has done someone else.
Tpwrds the end of the day, we had a remarkable look at the future of Test cricket, with the floodlights on, and the clear quartet of familiar shadows surrounding every player. It looked remarkably like a day-night ODI, well, except that Alastair Cook was batting as he usually does.
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