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Northamptonshire have confirmed that Jack Brooks has been allowed to utilise a get-out clause in his contract to further his international ambitions

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2012

Northamptonshire have confirmed that Jack Brooks, the pace bowler, has been allowed to utilise a get-out clause in his contract to further his international ambitions.Brooks, who made a late start to his professional career having come through Minor County cricket, played for England Lions against the West Indians this season on his home ground. In the Championship he took 23 wickets at 35.69 in a campaign disrupted by injury and overall has 118 first-class wickets at 28.95″I’ve taken this decision to leave Northants because I want to compete at the highest level possible,” Brooks said. “The opportunities being offered to me are too good to turn down, and I owe it to myself to explore all avenues as I continue my quest for international honours.””I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Northants and fully appreciate the support I’ve been given by all at the club. Hopefully, I’ll be remembered for my performances and wholehearted approach to the game.”Head coach David Ripley said: “I am saddened by Jack’s departure, we will miss him both on the field and in the dressing room as he is a real character. He is striving for international honours and domestic trophies, which I believe are both achievable here, but I fully understand and respect his decision to leave. We wish Jack all the best in his future.”David Smith, the chief executive, added that this was a situation clubs are becoming used to these days. “Jack leaving us is a reflection of our more mobile cricket society and of more flexible employment laws that allow players to move between county cricket clubs on a more regular basis than in the past.”The club wants to place on record its appreciation of Jack’s service over the past four years and wish him all the very best for the future. Jack has been a very popular member of our dressing room.”

MatériaMais Notícias

A saída do centroavante Leandro Damião do Internacional rumo ao Kawasaki Frontale-JAP pode não ser a única que o Colorado terá de repor em seu planejamento de montagem de elenco para o ano de 2019.

Isso porque o jornalista e apresentador equatoriano Washington Sánchez que trabalha na rádio local Super K 800fez uma postagem em sua rede social fazendo a categórica afirmação:

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– Atenção! Barcelona e Junior buscam acordo que permita a volta do goleador Jonatan Álvez aos amarelos (apelido do Barcelona de Guayaquil). Parece viável.

Nesse momento, o time principal do Inter conta no elenco para desempenhar a função com nomes, além do uruguaio, do jovem revelado nas categorias de base Brenner e do impedido de jogar até pelo menos abril de 2019 Paolo Guerrero.

Vestindo a camisa do Barce entre 2016 e 2017, Jonatan viveu o que pode ser chamado como o grande momento de sua carreira até mesmo em números anotando 46 tentos em 73 aparições.

Shiv Thakor faced more than 100 balls for his unbeaten 39 as Leicestershire held out for a draw against Northamptonshire

Jon Culley at Northampton13-Aug-2012
ScorecardShiv Thakor took two first-innings wickets as well as making 100 runs in the match to help Leicestershire scrape a draw•Getty Images

There are still four matches left but Northamptonshire may have seen their chance of a late run for promotion slip away with their failure to see off their east Midlands neighbours. The draw leaves them 15 points adrift of the two teams in second place, which is probably a gap too far at this stage, although they take one of them – Hampshire – at West End on Wednesday.Leicestershire owed their escape to Shiv Thakor, whose influence on the whole contest has identified him as a player with a big future. An England player at Under-17 and Under-19 level, although overlooked for the ongoing Under-19 World Cup in Australia, the 18-year-old effectively saved the follow-on in the first innings and followed up with a wonderfully mature display of defiance to stave off defeat.He finished unbeaten on 39, having batted for two and a half hours under no little pressure as Northamptonshire, having given themselves 88 overs to bowl Leicestershire out, chipped away relentlessly in search of ten wickets. They finished with eight, having whittled out every recognised batsmen bar one, the teenager. Thakor faced 105 balls and was notably impressive against James Middlebrook, the offspinner, rarely putting a foot wrong even with six or even seven fielders around the bat, as was the case while he batted out the last five deliveries of the contest.As in the first innings, he teamed up most effectively with Claude Henderson, Leicestershire’s 40-year-old left-arm spinner. Their unlikely alliance put on 52 this time, more importantly using up 18 overs. His focus turns now to his A-level results, due on Thursday, with offers to weigh up from Durham, Cardiff and Loughborough Universities.Phil Whitticase, Leicestershire’s head coach, is enthused by what the youngster, who also bowls useful medium pace, might become.”He gave a really mature and responsible performance in the first innings and to do it again in the second innings, under that kind of pressure, when you lose a couple of wickets and find yourself taking the lead role, showed a maturity beyond his years,” Whitticase said. “He is mentally strong, too, and when you get that in someone so young it can only speak well of him.”He has been in our system since he was eight and has been brought up the right way. He has worked with Trevor Ward, at Uppingham School, where he has been since before his GCSEs, and he has been in the England system, too, so he has been taught a lot about how to play spin bowling, how to cope with sledging. But it is one thing talking about it, quite another to actually do it in high pressure moments.”He has a big decision to make this week. From our point of view, if he decides to defer university a while and concentrate on cricket it would be great but I’m not going to try to make his decision for him. I know that education is an important part of his life.”Impressive though Thakor was, however, it was an opportunity missed by Northamptonshire, who may rue their decision to bat on for 25 minutes on the final morning. Leicestershire finished so far away from the 353 they needed, in theory, to move off the bottom of the table that it was a mystery why Andrew Hall wasted eight overs by not declaring with their overnight lead of 311. By continuing, he at least gave a seemingly out-of-sorts Robbie Joseph time to take his only wicket of the match (26 overs, 1 for 138) by bowling Rob Newton, but seemed to serve no one else’s interests.Nonetheless, the Northamptonshire bowlers gave themselves a chance of finishing the job. After ten of the 88 overs, they had Leicestershire 30 for 2, which would have been 28 for 3 had Alex Wakely not let a chance slip through his hands at third slip. Michael Thornely had driven Andrew Hall off the back foot straight to mid-off and Will Jones, who despatched David Willey with a cracking drive through the covers for four, edged to edge to second slip two balls later. It was Ramnaresh Sarwan who enjoyed the let-off.In the event, it was not a costly miss. Sarwan had added only 11 more runs when, with left-armer Willey bowling round the wicket, he lost his off stump trying to drive a ball that was too full.A half-century from Ned Eckersley offered some measure of resistance, but Matt Boyce could not stay with him long and Leicestershire began to hope that the forecast rain would intervene in their favour. It never came, but Thakor did and stayed, for 40 overs.There was a disappointing blow when Josh Cobb, who played well for his 28, was caught trying to drive Willey and a more predictable one when Wayne White swished at a ball from Middlebrook and was bowled. Seven down entering the final hour, the odds still seemed heavily against Leicestershire’s survival but Thakor and Henderson were resolute. The latter’s dismissal with 16 balls left, deflecting the ball on to his stumps as he tried to leave, caused a flurry of late excitement, but Thakor’s nerve never wavered.

MatériaMais Notícias

As declarações do empresário de Pedrinho indicando que seu ciclo no Corinthians chegou ao fim ainda repercutem no clube. Nesta sexta-feira, foi a vez de o goleiro e capitão Cássio opinar sobre o assunto. E Cássio criticou a atitude de Will Dantas, que sugeriu a saída do jovem após o vice-campeonato da Copa do Brasil e depois voltou atrás.

– Acho que primeiro que as coisas se resolvem aqui, não falando fora. Esse tipo de situação. Vejo muitos empresários sendo negativos para o jogador. Nesse quesito, sou suspeito de falar, sou muito bem assessorado pelo meu empresário. Muitas vezes meu empresário veio e me deu uma dura ou tentou me aconselhar – declarou Cássio, em entrevista coletiva.

– Neste momento, o Pedrinho tem que focar em trabalhar, em se dedicar dentro de campo, e o empresário em assessorar ele. Amanhã ou depois se chegar uma proposta e ele quiser ir embora se não tiver feliz, faz parte – completou.

Depois da fala, Will Dantas ainda falou nesta quinta-feira que fez o desabafo motivado pelo VAR, usado para anular um gol de Pedrinho na decisão, e disse ter se reunido com um grande clube da Europa que fará proposta ao Corinthians nos próximos dias. Enquanto isso, Cássio saiu em defesa do atacante.

-Temos um presidente que nunca segurou jogador e diz que quem não estiver contente pode seguir. Não tem o que falar do Pedrinho, é um menino bom, tem um grande futuro. Mas esse tipo de situações do empresário falar… Aqui no clube somos muito francos. Tudo o que tem que ser falado, é falado aqui dentro. Não vi o Pedrinho se manifestar, só o empresário. É difícil botar o menino no meio também. Complicado falar, não cabe a mim julgar o certo ou errado – afirmou.

O assunto Pedrinho virou um problema para o Corinthians em meio à crise do time. O Timão está na 11ª colocação do Campeonato Brasileiro com 35 pontos, apenas quatro acima do Ceará, primeiro da zona do rebaixamento. No próximo domingo, encara o Vitória no Barradão.

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يفتقد نادي الزمالك للعديد من عناصره في مواجهة البنك الأهلي الأحد في بداية مشواره في كأس الرابطة هذا الموسم.

ويلعب الزمالك مساء الأحد في تمام التاسعة وربع مساء بتوقيت القاهرة، على ملعب “المقاولون العرب” أمام البنك الأهلي ضمن مواجهات دور الـ16 بكأس الرابطة للأندية المحترفة نسخة 2022-2023.

اقرأ أيضا..الزمالك يفتقد لاعبه أمام البنك الأهلي في كأس الرابطة

ويخسر الزمالك في اللقاء خدمات شيكابالا لعدم الجاهزية الفنية والبدنية وخاصة أنه عائد للتو من الإصابة بنزلة برد.

ويغيب عن الزمالك لاعب الوسط أحمد نبيل “دونجا” لمعاناته من شد خفيف في العضلة الأمامية، كما يغيب الظهير الأيمن حمزة المثلوثي والذي يواصل عملية تأهيله بسبب إصابته في الركبة.

ولن يشارك مع الزمالك أمام البنك الأهلي الظهير الأيسر محمد عبد الشافي بسبب إصابة في كاحل القدم، كما يغيب محمد عبد الغني قلب الدفاع بسبب الإصابة بشد عضلي بجانب ألم على مستوى الركبة.

يذكر أن الفائز من مواجهة الزمالك والبنك الأهلي سوف يلتقي في دور الثمانية مع فريق سيراميكا كليوباترا.

New Zealand’s inexperienced line-up crumbled against disciplined bowling led by Andre Russell and their bowlers were swatted away by Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith

The Report by Abhishek Purohit05-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle thumped an unbeaten 63 off 57•WICB

New Zealand got a sampler of how tough this ODI series could get for them when their inexperienced line-up crumbled against disciplined bowling led by Andre Russell and their bowlers were swatted away by Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith.The sharp Russell struck with his first delivery, in the second over, and New Zealand were always under pressure after that. BJ Watling, the wicketkeeper-batsman, hung around to ensure New Zealand batted out 50 overs, something they hadn’t looked like achieving at 71 for 5 in the 24th over.In contrast, Gayle and Smith bulldozed their way to 93 for 1 in 18 overs before returning after an almost two-hour rain break to motor to the revised target of 136 in 33 overs with 52 deliveries to spare. The game, though, had almost been decided during New Zealand’s disappointing innings.The visitors made the Sabina Park surface look much worse than it actually was. There was bounce, but little seam movement, and the swing wasn’t unmanageable. West Indies, though, made superb use of whatever was on offer, Russell finding just enough away shape to have Guptill edging his sixth ball low to second slip. That was one of the few wickets New Zealand did not give away.Daniel Flynn seemed to have recovered from a scratchy start only to chop a drive onto his stumps; Rob Nicol looked alright before charging and holing out to deep square leg to give Russell his third wicket in his fifth over.New Zealand were 36 for 3 in ten overs when Sunil Narine came on to bowl, and predictably, they had no clue what was coming their way. Thumb or no thumb on the ball, they could not make out the big offspinner from the carrom ball. Dean Brownlie scratched around for 13 balls to make one run before being caught plumb in front by a straighter one from Narine.Smart stats

West Indies’ win is their eighth by a margin of nine or more wickets in a home ODI (target greater than 100 runs). The last time they achieved it was against Pakistan at Providence last year.

It is also West Indies’ 25th win against New Zealand in ODIs. The last time the teams played in the West Indies (2007 World Cup), New Zealand won by seven wickets.

Andre Russell’s 4 for 45 is the ninth haul of four or more wickets for West Indies in an ODI against New Zealand. It is, however, the third-best bowling performance by a West Indian bowler in a home ODI against New Zealand.

The number of sixes hit by West Indies (8) equals their record for the most sixes hit in an innings lasting less than 25 overs.

The 130-run stand between Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith is the second-highest second-wicket stand for West Indies against New Zealand. The record is 184 between Larry Gomes and Desmond Haynes in Barbados in 1985.

Lendl Simmons’ duck is his seventh in 39 matches. It is also his longest duck (in terms of balls faced) and the third-longest by a West Indies batsman against New Zealand.

Kane Williamson, the stand-in New Zealand captain, and Watling somehow managed to survive Narine’s opening spell of 5-1-4-1. Just when New Zealand seemed to have begun some sort of recovery, Williamson, on 24, guided Darren Sammy’s fourth ball into the hands of the keeper to leave the visitors struggling to survive the full 50 overs.Watling, though he never looked completely in control, settled down to nudge and whip on the leg side, 50 of his 60 runs coming on that half of the ground. He added 46 with Jacob Oram and 44 with Andrew Ellis and survived two leg-before referrals, against Narine when on 26 and against Russell on 40.But the boost that could have taken New Zealand towards a fighting total never arrived. Jacob Oram, the only New Zealand batsman who looked threatening, got out in the second over of the batting Powerplay, looking for more runs after swinging a couple of sixes. Just 26 runs came off the Powerplay ultimately, and it ended with Ellis playing out a maiden to Narine, who later bowled Ellis to finish with 2 for 26.Watling continued to accumulate as New Zealand scraped 57 off the last ten overs, but as if succumbing to Russell and co. was not enough, New Zealand had Gayle and Smith to contend with. To round off their woes, Ellis could not bowl after picking up a leg injury while batting.In his first international match at his home ground since June 2009, Gayle began like he often has recently, with a maiden to Tim Southee. He soon started to swing boundaries down the ground freely. Southee and Oram were lifted nonchalantly for straight sixes; the spinners Tarun Nethula and Nicol met a similar fate. Smith, who largely struggled for timing, clobbered a few sixes over his favoured leg side, and also benefited from loose deliveries on the pads.With West Indies having knocked off nearly half of the original target in 18 overs, the expected rain arrived. Had there been a washout, the game would have ended without a result as West Indies’ innings had been halted two overs short of the 20 needed for the Duckworth-Lewis method to be applied.However, play eventually resumed with an hour to go for the cut-off time of 6 pm, leaving West Indies another 43 to get in 90 deliveries. Gayle and Smith eased to victory in fading light; New Zealand’s chances had faded long back.

أعلن الجهاز الفني لمنتخب مصر الأولمبي بقيادة البرازيلي روجيرو ميكالي، التشكيل الأساسي لمباراة اليوم السبت أمام السودان.

منتخب مصر يلاقي نظيره السوداني، ودياً في إطار التحضيرات لمواجهة زامبيا المرتقبة بتصفيات أمم إفريقيا تحت 23 عام.

طالع | وزير الرياضة يلبي رغبة ميكالي بشأن مباراة مصر وزامبيا في تصفيات أمم إفريقيا تشكيل منتخب مصر الأولمبي أمام السودان:

حراسة المرمي: على الجابري.

خط الدفاع: أحمد عيد ومحمد مغربي وعمر فايد وخاتم محمد حسن.

خط الوسط: محمود جهاد وعبد الغني محمد ومحمد شحاته.

خط الهجوم: مصطفي ميسى وعماد ميهوب وأسامة فيصل.

وتعد المباراة هى آخر تجارب المنتخب استعدادا لمواجهة زامبيا يوم الأربعاء المقبل في ذهاب الجولة الأخيرة من التصفيات المؤهلة إلى نهائيات كأس الأمم الإفريقية تحت 23 سنة وهي البطولة المجمعة المؤهلة إلى دورة الألعاب الأولمبية باريس 2024 حيث يتأهل منها الثلاثة منتخبات الأوائل مباشرة بينما يلعب الرابع مع نظيره من آسيا على تذكرة التأهل الرابعة من قارة إفريقيا.

تحدث شريف عبد المنعم، لاعب الأهلي السابق، عن اللقاء المرتقب اليوم بين المارد الأحمر وماميلودي صن داونز في دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويحل الأهلي ضيفًا على صن داونز، في تمام الثالثة عصر اليوم السبت بتوقيت القاهرة، ضمن منافسات الجولة الرابعة من عمر المسابقة القارية.

وقال عبد المنعم في تصريحات ببرنامج “طويلة وعالية” عبر إذاعة “الشباب والرياضة”: “مستوى فريق القطن زاد من صعوبة المجموعة بسبب أننا لا يُمكن أن نعتمد عليه في إهدار نقاط على الهلال وصن داونز”.

طالع أيضًا | محمد الشناوي: نبحث عن الفوز أمام صن داونز.. وخبرات اللاعبين قادرة على التعامل مع ضغط المباريات

وتابع: “مباراة الأهلي وصن داونز مهمة للمجموعة كلها، فوز المارد الأحمر بالمباراة سيجعل مواجهة الفريق الجنوب إفريقي ضد الهلال صعبة جدًا على الأول”.

وواصل: “الأهلي اعتاد على التعامل مع الغرور الدفاعي في صن داونز، المواجهة ستكون صعبة أمام برازيل إفريقيا، أتمنى أن تكون النتيجة إيجابية رغم وجود غيابات مؤثرة في الأهلي”.

وأردف: “خط الهجوم في الأهلي يحتاج أن يكون موفقًا ويستغل أنصاف الفرص في مباراة صن داونز”.

واستمر: “مارسيل كولر يعمل بميزان حساس في تدوير اللاعبين داخل الفريق من أجل أن يكون كل لاعب جاهزًا لإفادة الفريق في أي وقت”.

وشدد: “المدرب السويسري في موقف لا يُحسد عليه، هذه المباراة هي مباراة الهدف الأول، من يسجل أولًا ستكون له الأفضلية للفوز”.

واختتم: “على الأهلي التعلم من مباراة القاهرة أمام صن داونز، التقدم في النتيجة لا يعني أن تقوم بالتراجع، أتمنى أن يدفع كولر بثلاثي في خط الوسط”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Um dos destaques do São Paulo na vitória sobre o Bahia, no Morumbi, o meio-campista Nenê comemorou o fato de ter dado assistência para o amigo Diego Souza marcar e avisou que irá ignorar o clássico entre Internacional e Grêmio neste domingo, no Sul. O jogo pode valer a liderança do Tricolor Paulista no Campeonato Brasileiro. De folga, o camisa 10 só quer saber do resultado.

– Não (vai ver).Vou estar de folga, não temos de pensar nisso. Claro que preferimos que não tenha resultado positivo. Vamos passar o fim de semana tranquilos para trabalhar bem durante a semana e pensar no próximo jogo – ponderou o meia, na zona mista do estádio, após a partida.

Com o gol marcado por Diego Souza, ambos agora têm 12 gols na temporada. No Brasileirão, os números também são iguais: oito gols marcados por cada. Além de falar sobre a assistência, Nenê também citou ter feito cobranças ao time no intervalo e apresentou as razões.

– A parte do gol, fiquei feliz porque não tinha dado nenhuma assistência para o Diego. Estranho, né? (risos) A gente tem uma conexão ali, temos os mesmos gols. Fiquei feliz. Sobre o time, não só cobrei, mas motivei. Precisávamos de um pouco mais de intensidade, o time estava muito espaçado. Não estava dando certo, saíamos na hora errado – completou.

Para o camisa 10, um dos motivos de desconcentração do São Paulo foi a atuação do árbitroAndré Luiz de Freitas Castro. Nenê garantiu que parte de suas instruções foram dadas apenas para fazer com que o time esquecesse o juiz e focasse apenas em fazer um bom jogo.

– Falei também para esquecer o juiz, pensar no que faríamos dentro de campo.Temos de ter leitura de jogo, ajudar os mais novos. Não só no jogo, mas na parte de mentalidade. É algo que a gente tenta fazer da melhor maneira possível.Aconteceram algumas coisas, de cabeça quente você acaba falando alguma coisa, estava de cabeça quente no último jogo. Faz parte, ser humano erra. Temos que pensar na gente, focar – finalizou.

O São Paulo agora terá a semana livre para treinar antes de enfrentar o Santos, no próximo domingo, às 16h, na Vila Belmiro, em partida válida pela 25ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro.

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The England seamers, maintaining the fine form that has been a feature of their cricket over the last couple of years, claimed three wickets in the first four overs to gain the early initiative

The Report by George Dobell26-Mar-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahela Jayawardene’s 30th Test hundred was a vital innings for his side•Getty Images

A masterful century from Mahela Jayawardene helped Sri Lanka fight back against England on the first day of the first Test in Galle. Jayawardene, unbeaten on 168 at stumps, batted for all but two overs of a hot and humid day to ensure his side were not completely overwhelmed. None of his colleagues made more than 27 and between them, they contributed just 111.Both sides will reflect on a day of missed opportunities. While England – with the notable exception of Monty Panesar – were impressive in the field, Sri Lanka may well come to rue that a series of batsmen played a part in their own downfall. Two of them were run out, one was caught at cover as he attempted a slog-sweep that reeked of inexperience and at least one more was drawn into driving at a delivery he would have been better served leaving well alone. England applied the pressure expertly, but Sri Lanka proved more brittle than expected.England, meanwhile, will regret four missed chances off Jayawardene – the two from Panesar almost comical – and a failure to finish off the innings much earlier. At 191 for 7, a total of 300 should have proved beyond Sri Lanka. Such profligacy could come back to haunt England.If it does, it will be largely thanks to Jayawardene. Only seven men have scored more than his 30 Test centuries, but he would have been frustrated at his colleagues’ failure to take advantage of winning the toss. It should have proved invaluable: on a pitch that is already offering a surprising amount of assistance for the spinners and is expected to deteriorate further.Jayawardene deserved better. With his patience, his shot selection, his concentration and his technique, he provided the perfect example for his team-mates to follow. Three times he came down the wicket to thump sixes over long-on – once off James Anderson and twice off Graeme Swann – though generally he contented himself with waiting for the poor ball and putting it away with clinical precision.England did allow him four moments of fortune, however. When he had 64, Anderson was unable to cling on to a desperately tough chance at first slip off the bowling of Swann (Sri Lanka would have been 138 for 6 had it been taken) before, on 90, Anderson missed a much more straightforward chance off his own bowling.Then came two moments of vintage Panesar. Jayawardene, on 147, pulled directly to him at backward square and Panesar parried the ball for four. Worse was to follow. Panesar dropped a much simpler chance at mid-on off Stuart Broad when the batsman had 152. It provided a reminder of why Panesar, for all his skill as a bowler, has spent so much of his career on the outskirts of the international team.At first it appeared Sri Lanka might be blown away as they lost three wickets in the first four overs. Lahiru Thirimanne became Anderson’s 250th Test wicket in the bowler’s 67th Test – he is just the sixth England bowler to reach the milestone – as he prodded at one angled across him, before Kumar Sangakkara suffered the third first-ball dismissal of his Test career after he was drawn into a loose drive. Broad then took the edge of Tillakaratne Dilshan’s bat with a beauty that bounced and left him off the seam.Thilan Samaraweera was run out backing up after the bowler, Anderson, managed to lay a hand on a fierce return drive from Mahela Jayawardene only to see the ball deflect on to the stumps at the bowler’s end. It was, some might say, an unfortunate end to a promising innings, though Samaraweera was backing up unnecessarily far.Dinesh Chandimal, meanwhile, presented Samit Patel – preferred to Ravi Bopara (whose side strain would have prohibited him from bowling) or Tim Bresnan – with a maiden Test wicket as he miscued an ugly slog-sweep to cover and miscued to cover. It was the shot of a young man who had almost forgotten the art of batting for long periods of time; not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that he has not batted in first-class cricket since the first week of January.Then Suraj Randiv, looking quite comfortable and with a role to fulfil in supporting his captain, was run out by a direct hit from Andrew Strauss. It was a marvellous bit of work from England’s captain, who threw from about point, but it was another piece of sloppy cricket from a Sri Lankan side that has barely had time to draw breath after tours to South Africa, Australia and then Bangladesh. Not that Randiv, perhaps guilty of over enthusiasm, could use that excuse: he has been playing first-class cricket in Sri Lanka.With Herath, too, departing to an unnecessary sweep, only Prasanna Jayawardene could consider himself blameless. He fell victim to a wicked reverse-swinging inducker from Anderson.There were concerns that England would miss a third quick, but the polished performance of their frontline bowlers – and the fragility of the Sri Lankan batting – suggested the selectors’ gamble had been vindicated.Anderson, in particular, was excellent. Gaining conventional swing with the new ball and reverse swing with the old, he scarcely bowled a loose ball throughout and, when he took the wicket of Prasanna Jayawardene, he drew level with Brian Statham on 252 Test wickets. Only four England bowlers – Ian Botham, Bob Willis, Fred Trueman and Derek Underwood – have more.Patel could also reflect with pleasure on his first day of Test cricket. While both frontline spinners went wicketless, Patel struck twice. He is not the biggest turner of the ball, but he bowls straight with just enough variation to keep the batsmen honest.Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was the lingering issue of his ankle injury, but Broad appeared to struggle as the day progressed and England will be uncomfortable with the speed that runs were leaked after they claimed the second new ball. While the pitch is far from a minefield, it is highly unlikely to grow any easier and England – fresh from their travails against Pakistan’s spinners in the UAE – may struggle to shake the worry that they have squandered their best chance to take a firm grip on the series.