The Sri Lanka cricket team toured England during the 2006 international cricket season. England were back home for the first time since September 2005 and looked to maintain their Test standards, which saw them keep their second place in the ICC Test Championship in India, and the teams were also competing for sixth place in the ICC ODI Championship as both England and Sri Lanka were coming off the back of two lost ODI tours on the Asian sub-continent, against India and Pakistan, respectively. To add to problems, both teams were likely to be missing some key members of the team as England were without some of their squad for their previous tour and, two days before Sri Lanka departed for England, it was revealed that skipper Marvan Atapattu would miss the tour due to back problems that had forced him to skip his previous tour too. Jehan Mubarak was brought in as his replacement.
Schedule
Date Match Venue April 24-26 Tour Match Fenner's 29–1 May Tour Match County Ground, Derby May 4-7 Tour Match New Road, Worcester 11-15 1st Test Lord's 18-21 Tour Match Country Ground, Hove 25-29 2nd Test Edgbaston June 2-6 3rd Test Trent Bridge 15 Twenty20 Rose Bowl, Hampshire 17 1st ODI Lord's 20 2nd ODI The Oval 24 3rd ODI Riverside Ground 28 4th ODI Old Trafford July 1 5th ODI Headingley
Squads
Sri Lanka (Test Squad)Sri Lanka Squad retrieved 27 April 2006, from Cricinfo England England Squad, retrieved from CricinfoChapple in one-day squad, from Cricinfo, retrieved 7 June 2006 Mahela Jayawardene c Prasanna Jayawardene wk Kumar Sangakkara wk Malinga Bandara Tillakaratne Dilshan Chamara Kapugedera Nuwan Kulasekara Farveez Maharoof Lasith Malinga Jehan Mubarak Muttiah Muralitharan Thilan Samaraweera Upul Tharanga Chaminda Vaas Michael Vandort Nuwan Zoysa Andrew Flintoff Test c (Tests only) Andrew Strauss ODI c Geraint Jones wk Ian Bell Tim Bresnan (ODIs) Glen Chapple (ODIs) Paul Collingwood Alastair Cook Jamie Dalrymple (ODIs) Steve Harmison (ODIs) Matthew Hoggard (Tests) Ed Joyce (ODIs) Jon Lewis (Tests) Alex Loudon (ODIs) Sajid Mahmood Monty Panesar (Tests) Kevin Pietersen Liam Plunkett Marcus Trescothick
Tour matches Three-day match: Sri Lankans v British Universities
Three-day match: Sri Lankans v Derbyshire
Four-day match: Sri Lankans v England A
Four-day match: Sri Lankans v Sussex
Test series
1st Test
Day One England won the toss and decided to bat. Flintoff handed Sajid Mahmood his first Test cap, while Chamara Kapugedera made his Test debut for Sri Lanka. Marcus Trescothick opened for England for the first time since last year, alongside Andrew Strauss. 20 minutes before lunch Muttiah Muralitharan was brought in for his first over at Lord's, the 23rd of the England innings, with the seamers not having taken a wicket. However, in the fourth over of Muralitharan's innings Jayawardene had Strauss caught off Muralitharan, putting the English at 86 for one at lunch. The afternoon session started with Alastair Cook, playing in his first home Test, coming in to face his first ball in home Test cricket; after leaving that one alone, he proceeded to 44 not out by tea, while Trescothick was on 95 not out.Cricinfo - Commentary - 1st Test: England v Sri Lanka, retrieved from Cricinfo on 16 June 2006 Trescothick got his hundred by "slogging" Muralitharan for a single, but in the next over he, too, perished through being caught by Jayawardene. England batted through to stumps and lost only one further wicket, with Cook caught behind off Farveez Maharoof's bowling for 89, and England closed with nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard at the crease and the overnight total 318 for three. Sri Lanka, however, had taken a catch off a no-ball, a close lbw against Kevin Pietersen turned down off Chaminda Vaas, and Alastair Cook a couple of inches from being run out.Trescothick sparkles on return, by Andrew McGlashan, published by Cricinfo on 11 May 2006
Day Two The day began with Hoggard staying in the crease opposite Pietersen for 37 balls before being bowled by Vaas. This gave way to Paul Collingwood, who had made his first Test century in the first Test of the 2005–06 India tour. Collingwood contributed 57 to a partnership of 173 between the two before Pietersen fell at 158 trapped lbw by Vaas, and Collingwood a few balls later fell in the same fashion by Muralitharan. With England six down, Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones were the new batsmen, and the two made scores 33 and 11 respectively before Flintoff declared following his second six, off Muralitharan. The umpires called tea time early due to the declaration and the touring team came back out with their openers Mubarak and Tharanga. However, Mubarak quickly went back, after he was bowled by Hoggard without a run scored by any of the batsmen. Tharanga went five overs later, though with a more successful partnership of 21, the same number of runs the third Sri Lankan, Kumar Sangakkara, managed to make before caught off Sajid Mahmood, his first Test dismissal. At this time, they were 81 for two: fifteen minutes later, the scoreboard read 85 for six, with three batsmen out for ducks including debutante Kapugedera who fell on his first Test ball. The day's play was curtailed by bad light, which left Sri Lanka at 91 for six, fourteen of which came off English extras, while Mahmood's debut figures read three for nine.
Day Three It started with the clement weather of the last few days overshadowed by clouds and the forecast of rain. With Mahmood unable to add to his tally from yesterday, conceding 41 runs on the day. Sri Lanka batted through ten overs, but Farveez Maharoof gave a return catch to Hoggard, and two overs later Flintoff makes a breakthrough, getting Jayawardene out with a catch by wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. However, the ninth-wicket stand between Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara gave the most runs of the entire innings, as the two add 62 in just over an hour. After lunch, however, they were out in the space of three deliveries, and Sri Lanka were all out for 192.
Flintoff enforced the follow on, and once again Mubarak was out in single figures to Hoggard, the total 10 for one. However, Tharanga and Sangakkara built Sri Lanka's largest partnership of the match thus far, both making half-centuries and sharing a stand of 109. Eventually both batsmen were caught by Jones off spinner Monty Panesar, with Sangakkara's innings lasting four and a half hours for 65 runs, but at this point England required seven wickets and had two days to do it in.
Day Four Nightwatchman Farveez Maharoof frustrated the England bowlers. He was dropped on 30 by Paul Collingwood, and went on to bat through 40 overs and 166 minutes, as Sri Lanka went through the entire morning session without loss. England then got two wickets in five overs, both courtesy of Sajid Mahmood, but that only brought in Tillakaratne Dilshan. Another 20 overs followed without a wicket, with Mahela Jayawardene completing his century, before being caught behind for 119 four overs before the close of play on day four, as 24 overs were cut due to bad light.Jayawardene and light delay England by Andrew McGlashan, retrieved 16 June 2006, published by Cricinfo on 14 May 2006
Day Five Sri Lanka then lost both their last specialist batsmen, Kapugedera and Dilshan, but were leading by 62 runs at that time. The ninth-wicket partners Vaas and Kulasekara, however, had already showed their batting skills by having the highest partnership of the first innings, and they were eight runs away from achieving that again in the second. Batting through 189 minutes, the pair secured the draw for Sri Lanka, with Kulasekara even hitting a couple of sixes as he ended with 64 when Pietersen held a catch off Hoggard's bowling. However, by then it was too late, as Sri Lanka led by 167 runs and there was only half an hour left to score those runs in. Indeed, the tenth-wicket stand frustrated England until stumps: Muralitharan faced out that half-hour, scoring one run, while Vaas got his half-century before the close of play.
2nd Test
Day One Sri Lanka won the toss and skipper Mahela Jayawardene chose to bat; it seemed that they made the wrong choice as England crippled them to 82/8 with the help of a swinging wicket, before Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga put up a half century partnership and the team were all out for 141. Matthew Hoggard's swinging and cult-hero Monty Panesar put on impressive shows but regular ODI player, Liam Plunkett, was the real boon of the side. Before the end of the first day, England had all but closed the deficit as stumps was called at 138/3, Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss putting on a 56 partnership before Alastair Cook came out, soon followed by big-hitter Kevin Pietersen who was 30 at stumps aided by a 6, and went on to score another Test century the next day - the only batsmen in the first innings to hit more than 30. Despite the hot-headed player's skills, England were not fully confident at the slip, Cook being saved by a dropped ball by the Sri Lanka skipper and Muttiah Muralitharan proved quite a threat.
Day Two Pietersen opened the second day, 80 minutes late thanks to rain, with nightwatchmen Hoggard, the latter putting on his normal single figures, this time 3 runs, but holding the line for 36 balls. Once normal play resumed with Paul Collingwood England continued to dominate, setting their targets high with a 69 partnership before Collingwood gloved Murali to short leg for 238/5 and was replaced by skipper Andrew Flintoff who was surprisingly tame. Pietersen went on to hit three 4s in as many balls before hitting a reverse-sweeper 6 but then being bowled lbw by Murali, achieving three Test centuries in consecutive Tests. After the departure of their number four, England crumbled hopelessly from 290/6 to 295 all out just before tea. The mood in the English camp was swiftly revitalised by the hot drinks as Hoggard bowled Upul Tharanga for a golden duck, having been bowled for nothing in the first innings. Two more men went to see the tourists at 43/3 with a 111 run deficit and before the close of play Geraint Jones redeemed his missed catch to Thilan Samaraweera by stumping soon after, unbeaten opener Michael Vandort remained at the crease for 30 when play closed at 7:30 due to the missed play earlier.
Day Three After persistent rain over Birmingham, play was started at 4:45 and the fifth wicket held up for 125, helping them take the lead. Both batsmen fought off good efforts by Panesar and Plunkett but eventually it was Hoggard who made the only breakthrough on a day where Sri Lanka stood tall for a short day at 194/5.
Day Four