Poor pitches killing English T20

More than match-fixing, chucking or the absence of cricket from free-to-air television, poor pitches will destroy cricket and turn away spectators from the English game

"Take me to Lord's to see someone I've never heard of, nurdle someone else I've never heard of off their legs for a single," is an expression no child has ever uttered.

The NatWest T20 Blast is not for the purist. It is not about subtlety. It is not, really, even about winning. It is about attracting new spectators to the game. It was re-launched only a few weeks ago to double - yes, double - attendances over the next three or four years.

So it is essential it contains the biggest names, boundary hitting and fast bowling to appeal to those who are left untouched by longer forms of the game. It is essential it provides fast-moving, attractive, entertainment.

So it was a shame that, on the day it became clear that the ECB were not going to honour their commitment to back the re-launched competition by making England players available, that the pitch at Lord's for Middlesex's match against Gloucestershire should provide so little chance of entertainment to a crowd of 14,000.

Dry, cracked and uneven, it provided too much assistance for the bowlers and produced cagey cricket lacking the big hitting or eye-catching bowling that could sell the game to a new audience. It was like going to watch The Rolling Stones play their greatest hits and instead find them experimenting with an evening of Belgian jazz.

Matches like this present a chance to appeal to a new audience; a chance to inspire new supporters and new players. With very little cricket available on free-to-air TV, it is the shop window for our game.

But, all too often, the English game is self-harming with this sort of surface. A surface lacking the pace and bounce to encourage attractive cricket. A surface encouraging canny medium-pacers and dart-like spinners. A surface that creates boring cricket.

All too often, new spectators will taste the game once and never return.

And it may well get worse. Pitches for the 50-over competition later in the season may well be even more tired and dry. They will offer even more wretched entertainment. They will damage cricket even more.

It is not entirely the groundsmen's fault. They are obliged to prepare so many pitches during the course of a season that they simply run out of space. They have no choice but to re-use wickets, particularly when the requirements of broadcasters insist that games are played towards the centre of the square.

The new drainage installed at grounds around the country might be relevant, too. There is increasing evidence to suggest that groundsmen are simply unable to retain moisture in pitches and, as a consequence, there is a lack of pace and more assistance to spin than might be required. It is a factor that might become increasingly relevant in the Investec Test series against India.

In the longer-term the ECB are likely to consider centrally-contracted groundsmen. Then they can demand pitches for the benefit of the national game as a whole, not just the home county. But the ECB will also have to fund groundsmen adequately to ensure they have the required resources. This is too important an area of the game to skimp.

Pitches like this will kill the game. More than match-fixing, chucking or the absence of cricket from free-to-air television, poor pitches will destroy the product and turn away spectators. The game has to do better and for Lord's, the home of cricket, to provide such a surface for such an encounter, is bitterly disappointing.

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England prescribe rest to jaded squad

England have decided that rest will be the best cure for the team that slipped to their first series defeat on home soil against Sri Lanka. 10 of the 11 that played in the series are to miss the next round of County Championship games starting on Sunday, as well as NatWest T20 Blast games that precede them.

There is an irony in the only exception to the decision. Moeen Ali, who batted throughout the final day to take England within two balls of saving the Test and the series, will play in Worcestershire's Championship match against Glamorgan. While there will be few concerns about his batting, the England selectors will be keen to see him gain some more bowling time with the red ball after Moeen admitted in Leeds that he felt more confident delivering his doosra with the white ball.

Chris Woakes, who was also in the England squad for the Sri Lanka series but did not play, is free to play both in Warwickshire's T20 and Championship side.

All those not involved in matches will attend a two-day training camp in Loughborough, with the England squad for the first Test of the Investec series against India to be named in the middle of the week.

While the decision to rest the seam bowlers, in particular, is not a surprise, the decision to rest wicketkeeper Matt Prior is more perplexing. Prior endured a poor game with the gloves at Headingley and, having struggled with injury in the early stages of the season, had only kept in one first-class game before the Test series. As well as dropping a couple of chances, Prior also conceded 31 byes in the two-Test series.

England's inconsistent performance against Sri Lanka might have convinced the team management that the players required more time in the middle. But, perhaps with one eye to the future schedule - the entire five-Test series against India takes place in a six-week window - it has instead been concluded that rest may be of more benefit.

It was alarming to note how jaded some England players appeared towards the end of the second Test. James Anderson, despite an otherwise exemplary series, experienced one of his worst days in several years on the fourth day at Headingley, while Stuart Broad has a long-standing knee problem that limited him to two first-class games ahead of the series and appeared to be hampering him at times during it. Chris Jordan, so impressive in the limited-overs series and in early-season for Sussex, also appeared to have lost just a bit of nip.

It was also noticeable that those men - Joe Root and Prior, in particular - exposed to the pace and hostility of Mitchell Johnson in Australia seemed least able to cope with the pace of the Sri Lankan seamer Dhammika Prasad. England's problems may well stem more from feeling mentally jaded than physically.

Indeed, in years to come, the burn out of Jonathan Trott, the premature retirement of Graeme Swann, even the struggles of Alastair Cook and Steven Finn, may be seen as a reflection of a schedule that simply asks too much - physically but most of all mentally - of the best players. Nearly 300 days a year in hotels and, just as importantly, in the somewhat intense England environment, does little to retain the joy and freshness that is required to excel at the top level in sport.

Perhaps it is more surprising that the players have been withdrawn from Friday night's T20 programme. Not only might the relative freedom of a white-ball innings have freed up the likes of Cook to recover some form but, only a few weeks ago, the ECB re-launched the competition with assurances that England players would be made available more often. Even with the county game fighting for relevance and financial viability, it seems it will receive little help from the England camp.

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Bopara 'empty' at Test non-selection

Ravi Bopara admitted he woke up feeling empty the day after England's ODI series against Sri Lanka finished.

While Bopara still cherishes playing for Essex, he has tasted life on the bigger stage and knows that little else compares to the thrill of representing England. Waking in his hotel room the day after the ODI series ended knowing that he wouldn't be required for the Investec Test series against Sri Lanka was, he says, "a huge anti-climax".

"A lot of the other lads were going off to prepare for the Test series," Bopara told ESPNcricinfo. "They were excited. They were talking about it. They still had a buzz. And I wasn't involved. I woke up feeling this hole inside me knowing that England was over for me for a bit and I was going back to county cricket. It's really hard to accept.

"Look, I love playing for Essex. I really do. But there's nothing like playing for England. It's the ultimate. And once you've experienced it, it's very hard to accept anything less."

But Bopara accepts that his Test form has not been adequate to warrant his continued selection. While there were, as he puts it, "glimpses" of what he can do, an average of 31.94 after 13 Tests is modest for one so talented.

"I feel frustrated," he says. "I've not been able to show my full potential to a wider audience. I was doing OK, but then the Ashes of 2009 didn't go well for me and I haven't got back in for any length of time.

"I've shown glimpses. But I know I haven't done myself justice and I really want to do it. I mean, I really want it. I want to play innings people remember. I know I can do that and I would love another opportunity. But there's no point hoping or moaning. I've got to make sure I do it by scoring heavily in county cricket and making it impossible for them not to pick me."

Such passion may seem at odds with the image of Bopara as laid-back to the point of being comatose. But whatever he used to be like, he feels the experience of spending time with successful people from outside the world of cricket has given him greater perspective and better tools for coping with the stresses and strains of life.

"I've been disorganised in the past," he says. "That's true. But it is the past. I'm working harder than ever now. I did feel, for a while, as if I lost all my energy. But I've rediscovered that. I'm honestly more determined and focused than ever.

"I was very lucky to spend some time with some successful people outside cricket," he says. "I don't want to say who they were, but I'm talking about business people. It wasn't organised by Essex or the ECB. It just happened, really, and it's lucky that it did.

"They showed me the habits and characteristics successful people need to have. They showed me how organised you have to be and how calm they were under pressure. They were so determined and so positive and the whole experience made me a better cricketer and a better, more honourable man. Why? Because now, if I say I'm going to do something, I do it. I've learned a lot."

	"The experience made me a better cricketer and a better, more honourable man. Now, if I say I'm going to do something, I do it."

Bopara's last experience with the Test team ended after the first Test of the series against South Africa in 2012 when, for personal reasons, he felt a need to take a break from cricket.

"Being a cricketer is not like a normal job," he says. "If you work in an office you might leave home early in the morning and be back late at night, I know. But we go away for months at a time and that can cause a lot of problems. The schedule isn't conducive to normal family life. If there's something going on that needs sorting at home, well you've got to go and sort it."

But no-one should mistake Bopara's decision as a demonstration of any lack of commitment. "It's not exactly that I put cricket before anything else, it's just that it is who I am," he says. "Cricket makes me who I am. It's more than what I do; it's what I am. So it is number one for me. Family is more important, of course, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't a cricketer. It's a non-negotiable part of my life. I have to put it first."

As one of the few men in the England set-up who developed as a player solely in the UK and without the help of the private school system, Bopara might also have a role in inspiring the next generation of young players into the game.

"There is so much talent out there," he says at a Chance to Shine event in Birmingham. "And there is so much love for the game. I was lucky in that my mum and dad played a massive part in my development. They took me to games, they encouraged me to train. They did whatever needed doing and I wouldn't have made it without them. Parents are the key.

"But role-models have a huge part to play, too. There has been a bit of a shortage of players from West Indian circles in the English game in recent years, so it's great to see Chris Jordan coming through. He is going to be a big star and hopefully he can encourage a lot more kids to play the game.

"Can I do that, too? I'd like to. I really would. I'm seeing a lot more kids from ethnic backgrounds in the grounds and if I can inspire one or two to take up the game, well, that would be brilliant."

Chance to Shine ambassador Ravi Bopara was visiting Bishop Challoner Catholic College for Yorkshire Tea National Cricket Week. Thousands of Chance to Shine schools all over the country enjoyed cricket-themed activities in the classroom and the playground. Visit www.chancetoshine.org to find out more and donate.

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Podmore takes chance amid Middlesex struggle

Gloucestershire 105 for 6 (Howell 39, Podmore 3-13) v Middlesex match abandoned
Scorecard

Middlesex were meant to embody the brave new world of this season's NatWest Blast. They began the season with an innovative double-header and a new captain perfectly suited to the format in Eoin Morgan. It seemed like an intoxicating mix.

It hasn't worked out like that. Two defeats in a day at Lord's was not the start anyone envisaged - and Morgan promptly branded the concept of back-to-back games "unfeasible". Five defeats followed in their next six matches.

On a gloomy and ultimately rain-ruined evening at Lord's the prospect of a T20 game against Gloucestershire - pitting the bottom two sides in the South Division against each other - was not the most enticing prospect, even before factoring in the competing attractions of the football World Cup and Wimbledon tennis.

In the circumstances, that 14,000 still attended was heartening. They might have felt they deserved rather better than an anaemic pitch rendering timing the ball almost impossible. Gloucestershire managed only five boundaries in 20 turgid overs, a sight that will have done little to encourage the crowd to return.

Still, Harry Podmore would not have been complaining. Middlesex's miserable T20 season, allied to their impressive start in the Championship, has led to them resting their big fast-bowling feasts from T20. Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones both played today, but for Middlesex second XI against Surrey at Radlett rather than for the first team at Lord's.

Yet Middlesex's T20 despair has also created opportunities. The 19-year-old Podmore has seized his. He bowls full and straight and is evidently not easily fazed. As Adam Rouse moved around the crease in Gloucestershire's final over, in a desperate attempt to wake the innings up from its slumber, Podmore's focus was unwavering, and he decimated Rouse's stumps. In his first two professional matches - both televised T20s - Podmore has now taken five wickets for only 33 runs.

James Harris has had difficulties in this season's T20 Blast, going at over 8.5 runs an over but, from the moment Alex Gidman was caught off a top edge in the deep in the game's opening over, this had the feel of being a better day. As Gloucestershire stumbled to 19 for 3 off their Powerplay, it became apparent that consistent bowling on a length, the sort that batsmen relish on quicker pitches, would be sufficient to choke the innings. Benny Howell top scored with 39, including the only six of the innings, but it took 48 balls. At least Will Gidman attempted innovation to end the stasis, reverse-sweeping Ravi Patel for four and deploying the scoop against Harris.

Yet so turgid was the pitch that it is hard to imagine even the staunchest home supporter being particularly aggrieved that rain deprived Middlesex of the chance to chase down 106, even if an innings from Morgan would have shed more light on the pitch. A no result effectively confirms the premature exits of both sides though Middlesex have been anticipating such a result since their ill-fated Saturday five weeks ago.

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Northants fight a crumb for Peters

Northamptonshire180 (Chapple 5-51, Smith 4-26) and 231 for 8 (Smith 3-56) trail Lancashire 650 for 6 dec by 239 runs
Scorecard

Stephen Peters is a proud man. Quite pardonably unwilling to offer his views on the second evening of this game, after his side had been hammered to the distant shore of oblivion, the Northamptonshire skipper surely hoped against probability that the rest of the Division One contest would offer him some encouragement as he prepares for the second half of the County Championship season.

To a limited degree Peters' hopes were realised. True, Lancashire need just two wickets to complete a heavy innings victory, but many of Northamptonshire's batsmen fought as hard as they were able on the third day and they will begin the final morning on 231 for 8. Perhaps they therefore deserved the bad light which prevented Lancashire claiming the final half-hour.

No one exemplified the visitors' spirit of defiance against overwhelming odds more clearly than Andrew Hall, who followed his unbeaten 42 in the first innings with 36 not out in the second. Hall has now faced 200 balls in this match and if Peters' men are to get through the rest of this summer without suffering too many psychological scars, they will need to follow the South African's example. "This morning our objective was to get through today and bring everyone back tomorrow," Peters said. "We've managed to do that and we have to take small crumbs of comfort where we can at the moment."

Indeed, the morning had not begun too badly for Peters. His last three wickets added 67 runs, and then he and James Middlebrook had put on 39 more in fairly unruffled fashion before lunch. The follow-on, of course, had been taken for granted. Lancashire had a 470-run first-innings lead, the third-highest in their history, and Glen Chapple had only bowled 11 balls in the morning session. Saving the game would probably take Northants more than five sessions, ie. the rest of the match.

For Peters and his men, though, relief drops slow and slight this benighted summer. Fifteen minutes after the resumption Nigel Cowley gave the Northants captain out lbw for 41 when Tom Smith brought one back off the seam. Peters stood long and hard at the crease, perhaps considering the vicissitudes visited upon good men. More likely, he may have been disappointed with the decision. No matter; he had to trudge off.

An hour later Northants were 111 for 4 and the cream of their top order had departed in uncontroversial fashion: Richard Levi edging Smith to Paul Horton, Middlebrook nicking Kyle Hogg to Jos Buttler two balls later and Rob Newton losing his off stump when he failed to jab down on a Wayne White delivery.

Rain and bad light then trimmed 15 overs off the day's allocation but the elements did nothing to change the direction of the contest. In the 26 overs remaining to them Lancashire's attack grabbed four more wickets, two of them falling to Simon Kerrigan, who had Matt Spriegel lbw for 29 before having Ben Duckett caught by silly point, Alex Davies, the ball lobbing up off bat and pad. Only David Willey exhibited any impatience, the left-hander whacking his second ball from Kerrigan for six before miscuing Smith to Chapple at mid-on next over.

At such a juncture in the match and with little rain forecast, many sides might have settled for a cheery thrash, an early journey home and a night in their own beds. But, whatever their other problems, the Northants players are made of tougher stuff. Steven Crook joined Hall and frustrated his former side by making 36 and adding exactly 50 for the eighth wicket before, to his evident disappointment, he pulled the first ball of White's spell straight to Usman Khawaja at deep-backward square leg.

Graeme White also followed the line of most resistance and was undefeated on 5 when the light closed in. Lancashire's players will no doubt take great comfort from the imminence of victory, few more so than Smith, whose seven wickets in this match takes his total in Division One to 40 this summer.

Chapple, too, can be happy with matters. Lancashire's captain has bowled with real fire in this game and few things were more heartening for home supporters than to see him running in under full sail from the Pavilion End, still dead keen for his beloved Lancy, still crazy after all these years.

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'I never quit on anything' - Cook

Alastair Cook has insisted he has no intention of resigning the England captaincy despite his side slipping to the first home series defeat in their history against Sri Lanka.

Under Cook's captaincy, England are now without a win in eight successive Tests - six of which they have lost - which is their worst run since 1996-97. They have also dropped two places to fifth in the Test rankings.

Cook's own batting form is also causing concern. Since the start of the 2013 Ashes series, he has played 12 Tests and batted 24 times without making a century. In that period he has averaged just 25.04.

But, asked about his position after England slipped to a 100-run defeat against Sri Lanka at Headingley, Cook was adamant that, unless the ECB decide to sack him, he will not step down.

"I've never quit on anything I've done," Cook said. "I've given it my all, all the time. Every 104 games I've played for England, I've left everything out there

"It's the same situation here. Until that moment somebody tells me they don't want me to be captain, I'll still be here. I'm incredibly proud to be England captain. I've been selected to do it.

"If someone decides I'm not the right person for the job and the results don't justify me doing it, then fine. But until that moment, I'm desperate to try to turn English cricket around."

Cook conceded, however, that his batting form was a concern and accepted that the pressure on him to justify his place in the side was mounting.

"No one's guaranteed a place in this England team," he said. "You've seen with the young players around now, they're pushing for places. That's the way it should always be.

"When you're not batting well, you start to look at a few things technically. I'm sure there's something not quite right there I can work on.

"With runs at the moment hard to come by, it does put more pressure on me. I think I've got to go back to what I've done in the past. Bowlers do get tired. I've got to be so strong mentally and let them come to my areas, I believe. But it comes down to being mentally strong at the crease. I've done it in the past. I've just got to drag that mental strength out again.

"It's an incredibly tough challenge, a tough job, there's no doubt about it, especially opening the batting."

While Cook accepted that aspects of England's play in this game - especially their batting and bowling on the fourth day - had fallen well below standard, he did find some encouragement in the performances of some of the younger players. During the match both Sam Robson and Moeen Ali hit their maiden Test hundreds.

"I don't think you can fault any of the guys with the way they've played on the final day," he said. "We lost this Test match with a really bad day yesterday. We had one of our worst days, with both bat and ball, and lost this game because of it.

"Obviously, as a captain, you are responsible. We didn't bowl very well. It wasn't for lack of trying. We knew we had to bowl that fuller length. We knew what we were trying to do, but we just didn't get it right.

"If you look at the whole series, I think we probably had the better of eight, maybe seven, of the 10 days.

"With the fifth ball of the last day of the first Test, it was taken away from us and with the fifth ball of the last over, we've lost this Test match.

"It doesn't change the fact we've lost the series. But I think it would be wrong to look at it as such a negative series, just because we lost it.

"We've seen some amazing things from some young players who've come in, and announced themselves in international cricket. It was an incredible effort on the final day, with Moeen's hundred. To play like he played, for a free-flowing batsman to be so controlled, measured and calm under that pressure can only bode well for the future.

"But we can't look past the fact that, in this game, we were 300 for 3, with a lead of 60, and we haven't been able to nail Sri Lanka down. We should have got more than 360. We needed 450, 500 on that wicket. That's what's cost us."

It was noticeable on the final day that several of England's batsmen, notably Matt Prior and Joe Root, struggled against the short ball. But while Cook admitted that a hangover from Australia, and the beating that England took at the hands of Mitchell Johnson in particular, might still be affecting some players, he took comfort in the obvious pain that defeat caused his players, suggesting it showed the passion that remained within his side. James Anderson, who battled for more than 20 overs as part of the tenth-wicket stand with Moeen, was in tears at the post-match ceremony.

"Probably what happened over the winter is still there, getting hammered in Australia," Cook said. "There is that lasting effect, even with a different side. It's still the England side.

"But you saw Jimmy, right at the end. I think that just shows to everybody who doesn't really know us as blokes what it means to us to play for England.

"You sometimes get accused of not caring that much, especially when things don't go that well. But that was the raw emotion to a guy who has put everything into 83 minutes of batting. If it was 84, we'd be sitting here with a smile on our faces."

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Root provides Sri Lanka spark

As Sri Lanka sought a famous victory, Joe Root's words to Angelo Mathews were a pin prick that triggered an explosion

#politeenquiries: Is Pradeep better than Anderson?

It all began with Joe Root on the final day. He had been the overnight batsman. Moeen Ali was lacing silk with stone at the other end, and Root was blocking for his life. Sri Lanka's seamers began by bowling full. Rangana Herath went over the wicket, then around. Nothing worked. After a shower, and lunch, Sri Lanka asked to change a wet, misshapen ball.

With all that was to follow on day five, Root may not even remember what he said to Angelo Mathews, as Sri Lanka's captain oversaw the umpires' choosing of a new ball. But he did say something. Root spoke for no longer than three seconds, and suddenly Mathews was alive and aggressive, throwing something much longer, and nastier, in his face.

Sri Lanka had spoken since day one about how their attack might rip through England if they could take the match five days, but on the final morning, all the gunpowder they felt they had could not break England down. They needed a spark. A reason to run in harder, and stay keen in the field.

Within minutes Root was being harangued before each delivery, at the end of the over, and whenever a Sri Lanka player could get within earshot. For about 20 minutes, Root was a walking dartboard. Sri Lanka players who do not give more than two-word responses to journalists' questions were unleashing wordy tirades. The press box watched on with jealousy as Root collected the best quotes Mathews has ever given in his life.

Perhaps not even Root will know whether the edge he would send to gully was induced in part by the verbal assault. But before his jibe at Mathews, Sri Lanka were like a balloon, slowly deflating in the sun. Root's brief words were a pin prick, but they brought an explosion.

Sri Lanka would not have a smooth ride to the finish, but the intensity they mustered then did not dip until the penultimate ball took James Anderson's splice and floated into Rangana Herath's hands. As Mathews made 10 bowling changes in the final hour, like a man searching through his many pockets for some money, Sri Lanka's desperation was immense.

On a pitch that seemed to have died since the third day, after already having delivered more than 104 overs in the series, Shaminda Eranga found a magic ball formed of nothing but burning desire, and sealed Sri Lanka's first series win in England. Outside Asia, they last defeated top-eight opposition in a series way back in 1995.

Root was Sri Lanka's spark on Tuesday, but the past few months of Sri Lanka's cricket has been defined by the will to flourish in adversity. The players do not blame Paul Farbrace for switching sides in the weeks approaching the tour, but the team understood the strategic significance. They knew their own board was partly to blame for the clipping of one Test in this series, yet seeing that Test handed to India still felt like a slight.

On tour, the officials' reporting of Sachithra Senanayake's action, and the Mankad controversy to follow developed into what the team felt was a siege. Then in the days preceding the Tests, Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, labelled the visiting bowlers just "a glorified county attack". Mathews could not help but smirk, when it had all whirled to its extraordinary end.

"I hope my attack is better than a county attack," he said. "There was a little bit of a debate saying that my attack is not quite good enough for county cricket. That motivated us. We don't have Chaminda Vaas or Muttiah Muralitharan in our team, but we have some guys who are willing to do the job, are working really hard, and they're excited about playing Test cricket."

On paper Sri Lanka were outgunned, but on the final day at Lord's and the last four days at Headingley, they also transposed the fight that has shaped their limited-overs cricket for some time. England seemed headed for a straightforward victory with Sam Robson and Ian Bell at the crease on the second day, but Eranga's epic toil of line and length brought the quick wickets that gave Sri Lanka their first surge in the game. Mathews' 160, and his 149-run stand with Herath came in an even direr situation. Dhammika Prasad's fourth-day burst defies belief, given he had not taken more than one wicket for less than 100 runs in his past 10 Tests.

Sri Lanka have played without a break since early December, save for the few weeks of early IPL, to which none of the 16 men in the Sri Lanka squad had a ticket. With preparation having been so crucial to the trophy-sweep in England, the players will perhaps be glad for that. Since the painful end to the Sharjah Test in January, they have won 22 out of 27 matches, across all formats. Of all their plaudits, a Test series win in England seemed by far the least likely.

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Moeen shines amid rubble

It should not obscure the failures that led to England's defeat but Moeen Ali showed his talent and his temperament with a wonderful maiden Test century

Highlights: Moeen Ali produces valiant effort with maiden Test century on day five at Headingley

When Andy Flower warned after the Ashes that there may be more pain for England before things improved, it was days like this he had in mind.

Defeated for the first time at home in a multi-Test series by Sri Lanka, England have fallen two places to fifth in the Test rankings and, for the first time since 1996-97, when they were unable to defeat India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and New Zealand, have gone eight Tests in succession without a victory. James Anderson's tears after his dismissal summed up the general mood of the England camp. All the fight and hope had come to nothing.

There are unlikely to be repercussions in the short-term. England already have a new managing director, a new coach and a new chairman of selectors. They are not looking for a new captain as well.

There was always an understanding that this team was at the start of a long rebuilding phase. They may even consider themselves somewhat unfortunate to come up against a highly motivated Sri Lanka side containing two great players and several very good ones in their first Test series. This new dawn in English cricket was never likely to be full of rainbows and balloons.

Even if England had escaped with a draw, it should not have obscured the problems. It should not have obscured their poor catching, which has been an issue since the home series against South Africa in 2012, or the complacency with the bat that saw them squander a match-defining position in their first innings. It should not have obscured the weariness which seems to consume James Anderson and Stuart Broad worryingly often these days and it should not have obscured the poor form of a couple of England's senior players.

Most of all, it should not have obscured the manner in which England looked adrift in the field on the fourth day, or their problems with the short ball on the fifth.

While it was understandable to see England struggle against the pace and hostility of Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes, it was a surprise to see them struggle against the short ball from Dhammika Prasad. Admirably though Prasad bowled, there are many quicker and more hostile bowlers in world cricket. If batsmen cannot handle this in England, they are in serious trouble the next time they play Australia or South Africa. The fact that their ability against spin is also a weakness does not bode well.

Perhaps that Ashes experience is relevant. Perhaps several of those exposed to Johnson's bombardment have lost a bit of confidence against the short ball. While it is Jonathan Trott who is generally considered to have developed an issue with the delivery, the manner in which Matt Prior and Joe Root, in particular, struggled here, did raise the question as to whether they were suffering from some sort of shellshock after their experience in Australia. Prior was caught at short leg fending off one bouncer; Root was hit on the head and body by other short balls.

But, although it will not seem it right now, there were glimmers of gold amid the rubble of this defeat. The fact that Moeen Ali, Sam Robson and Gary Ballance were able to register centuries in their second Tests suggests all three could go on to play valuable roles at this level. Equally, the performance of Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan, at least in parts, suggested England are beginning to assemble a group of seamers that could serve them well for a few years.

The fact that they demonstrated admirable fight on the final day, too, suggests there remains some spirit and resilience in the dressing room. Had they survived two more balls, it would have been record-breaking resistance: no team has gone into an uninterrupted final day (in terms of overs) with five wickets down and secured a draw.

On the final day, it was Moeen who stuck out. While more experienced colleagues faltered and failed, Moeen was calm and composed. While more experienced colleagues poked and prodded, Moeen ducked and left the ball with the experience of a 100-Test veteran. That he remained elegant and languid even in the tension of the last hour only increased the admiration for his innings. He even had the backbone to tell Stuart Broad not to squander a review when he was adjudged lbw. He deserved a better ending.

	On a ground that has not, historically, been the most open-minded, a proud British Muslim earned a standing ovation of real warmth and appreciation

His bowling probably deserves more credit, too. In this match Moeen, despite bowling in the first and third innings against a side expert in playing spin, claimed two top-order wickets from his 24 overs. When you compare that to the figures of Rangana Herath, a spinner now accepted as a world-class performer who was bowling on a fifth-day pitch, they do not seem so bad: Herath bowled 67 overs and claimed only one more wicket than Moeen. All three of them were tailenders.

Moeen has long been destined for great things. He made a half-century on his first-class debut as a 17-year-old and then went on to captain England U-19s with some success.

But he lost his way for a while. Four or five years ago, he looked horribly uneasy against the short ball. Then, two or three years ago, experimenting with a stance like Chanderpaul and losing all sense of where his off stump was, he was caught in the slips so often that he went through a patch of leaving straight balls that bowled him. He admitted he thought this day might never come.

So to see him ducking or defending the bouncers with ease, to see him leaving with expert judgement, to see him reining in those natural instincts to lace the ball through the covers, was testament not just to his hard work but Worcestershire's faith. Other teams would have dropped him, but Worcestershire took the long-term view and understood that, if they had faith, it would be repaid many times over. England might benefit from the same attitude now.

There is a wider context, too. As a proud and visible British Muslim, Moeen has a role to play - a role he relishes - in building bridges between communities that have sometimes lacked trust in one another. He has a role to play in encouraging involvement from young players in communities that have not always felt included among the 'stakeholders' of English cricket and he has a role to play in helping the England side reflect the society it is meant to represent, not just part of it.

And that is a society that is not just white and middle-class and privately educated; it is not just a society where cricket is played on the village green by the church. It is a society that lives in the inner-cities, that attends the state schools; it is a society where cricket is a game played in the streets and parks near the mosque.

On a ground that has not, historically, been the most open-minded, a proud British Muslim earned a standing ovation of real warmth and appreciation. It was not always like this. On that front, at least, this was a special day for English cricket.

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New England, same mistakes

With Alastair Cook isolated and the deficiencies in his captaincy laid bare, the suggestion that English cricket is at a low point continues to gain credence

Might this count as a low ebb?

After the Ashes defeat in Australia, the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke, said it was "utter nonsense" to claim that England were at "some sort of massive low ebb".

Since then, though, little has gone right for England. They were embarrassed in the World T20 by Holland, they lost the ODI series (and the T20 match) against Sri Lanka and their new managing director, Paul Downton, has sometimes looked so out of his depth that it is hard to resist the temptation to throw him a pair of armbands.

And, as their bowlers were thrashed around Leeds by Sri Lanka's eighth-wicket pair, as their captain's grim run of form continued, as they allowed a game they had every chance to dominate slip away in front of a 'crowd' so small it should probably be called a 'sparse' and as their batsmen displayed the resilience of a papadam - Liam Plunkett's dismissal might be remembered as the worst shot by a nightwatchman in the history of Test cricket - it was hard to avoid any other conclusion than England had slipped not just to a low ebb, but to basement flat below one.

England have already gone seven Tests without a victory. But even if they do produce a miracle and prevail on the final day (and they might as well pray that a plague of unicorns prevents play), even if they pull off the largest successful fourth-innings run chase in their history, it should not obscure the deficiencies that have hurt them. And it should not obscure the deficiencies in the leadership of Alastair Cook.

It is not just the poor batting form or the uninspiring tactics that provoke such concerns. Yes, we know that he has now gone 24 innings without a Test century and that, since July 2013, he averages in the mid-20s. And we know that, as a tactician, he is more mouse than Strauss; more phoney than Dhoni. The decision to set spread fields in the opening overs of the day simply allowed Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews to settle in.

But we also know his long-term batting record is excellent and, given time, he should come again. And we know that, when he is batting well, he has the ability to unite his team and lead them to fine victories such as a series wins in India and an Ashes win at home. There are different ways to lead and Cook is not as hopeless as some would suggest.

The real concern is his inability to raise his team when required. Frustrated by his ineloquence, he appears unable to find the stirring phrases to rouse and renew in times of trouble. He is the type of captain who leads by example. And his current example is mediocrity.

More than that, though, he was the captain backed by the ECB when it was decided to drop Kevin Pietersen. He was the captain either unwilling or unable to accommodate the highest run-scorer in England's international history and, as a result, he has weakened his side and shouldered an unnecessary burden.

Any suggestion that he was unaffected by the relentless negativity towards him from high-profile critics such as Shane Warne and Piers Morgan was dashed when Cook snapped back the day before this match. It has clearly been on his mind.

But if Cook must take his share of responsibility for England's performance, a few of his senior players also need to reflect on the support they have offered him. Matt Prior has looked unrecognisable from the keeper who proved so reliable up until the end of 2013 and, in this match, has flapped like a seal and dropped like a stone.

	For Sri Lanka to come in early summer and secure their first series win is a damning indictment of England's new era

James Anderson, impeccable for so long, bowled horribly short and wide in being out-performed by Dhammika Prasad. His first over with the second new ball did not demand a single stroke; his second was little better. Ian Bell was beaten through the gate, back when he should have been forward, while Stuart Broad was unable to summon any of the menace gained by his Sri Lanka counterparts. In an inexperienced side, these are the men who have to support Cook. On Monday, at least, they let Cook down. All those burned by the Ashes thrashing fell away under pressure.

What England cannot - must not - do is blame bad luck.

If you win the toss and decide to bowl first, you cannot complain if you end up batting fourth against a turning ball.

If you waste your two reviews on speculative lbw shouts - one where the ball was clearly going down the leg side - you cannot complain when an umpire misses a blatant outside edge off Shaminda Eranga before he has scored and there are no reviews remaining.

If you waste the new ball and squander more than half-a-dozen chances in the field, you cannot complain when Test batsmen punish you.

If you pass your opposition's score with only two wickets down but then lose 7 for 54, you cannot complain when the opposition fight their way back into the game.

And if you bowl your overs so slowly that you run out of time when the opposition are nine wickets down, you cannot complain when they hold on for a draw.

Sri Lanka have played well in this series, but England have been, to a large extent, the architects of their downfall.

There is, as ever, mitigation. This is an England side containing several inexperienced players; there were bound to be days like this as they learned their trade. Equally, in a two-match series, the effects of one poor day can be magnified. England have not been this bad for the other eight days. But overseas victories are hard to come by for any side and for Sri Lanka to come to the UK in early summer and secure their first series win, is not just a reward for fine cricket, but a damning indictment of England's new era.

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Bell defends Cook captaincy

England performance 'absolutely gutting' - Bell

Ian Bell has rejected the suggestion Alastair Cook is on the brink of resigning the England captaincy and said it was the performance of the players rather than any tactical shortcomings that have cost the side in Leeds.

Bell, England's unofficial vice-captain and the man most likely to be appointed captain should Cook step down, was one of the batsmen dismissed on the fourth evening of the second Test as England finished on 57 for 5 chasing an improbable 350 for victory.

While Bell praised the century by Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews as "one of the best" innings of its type he had witnessed, he also accepted that England had "failed to execute their skills" or take their chances in allowing their opposition back into the game. In particular, he conceded that England's bowlers had pitched too short and the fielders had failed to cling on to a succession of opportunities.

"It looks like we're going to lose this Test," Bell said. "And that is absolutely gutting. But there is absolutely no doubt [that Cook will continue as captain]. I don't think the tactics were wrong. I don't think he could have done anything more.

"Our plans were to get the ball full and we didn't quite do that. I don't think the bowlers will sit there and say they got it right. It felt the kind of wicket that, with anything short, you wanted to make the most of it.

"And we, as batsman, had an opportunity with the bat to bury them in the first innings. We didn't take it and I think they showed what good teams do: when people are down, you have to keep them down.

"We had chances in the field and we put them down. You can't do that with good teams. You can't give those world-class players opportunities or they will hurt you. They've been outstanding today, but we've been really disappointing. We've been outplayed. They recognised today was a massive day and they've won it.

"As a group, we've got to help him [Cook]. We've got to get right behind him and start performing as a team. He's got more hundreds than anyone in an England shirt and he's been one of the best batsmen I've ever played with. Form is temporary. One innings and he'll be flying again. So I'm not worried about his batting at all."

Bell offered warm praise for Mathews' century, but admitted that England had erred tactically in giving him singles in the hope of attacking his lower-order partners. Instead, Bell, suggested, they should also have attempted to dismiss Mathews.

"Hats off to him," Bell said. "It was an incredible knock. He's played arguably one of the best knocks we've seen against us, certainly shepherding the tail. I can't remember one, since I've been playing, that was better than that towards the back end, the way he has played with the bowlers.

"But you look back with hindsight and I think if you want to stop someone like that scoring runs you get them out, don't you? You don't just try to stop them scoring. But I hope tomorrow that we've got five guys who can show what it means to wear an England shirt and come out with some pride and at least do something.

"We've been working really well and there's this one really bad day we've had in the last eight or nine. In a two-match series, you can have one bad day and lose it. If this was a five-match series, we could fight our way back in, but we can't."

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