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England's left-handers counter threat of Muralitharan

England 273-4 v Sri Lanka

Angus Fraser
Friday 14 June 2002 00:00 BST
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For the third Test match in a row Nasser Hussain and his England team can be grateful to their triumvirate of left handed batsmen for putting the home side firmly in control of this series against Sri Lanka.

Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe once again led the charge and, in another positive batting display, took great strides towards ending England's run of four series without a win by seeing them through to 273 for 4 when play was called off 18 overs early due to rain.

More importantly than flogging the tourists' hapless seam attack has been the way these three have countered England's biggest threat, Muttiah Muralitharan. The world's No 1 bowler has almost been rendered toothless by Trescothick, Butcher and Thorpe. In this series the trio have so far scored 878 runs at an average of 79.2.

Butcher, considered something of a risk before this Test because of a knee injury, fully justified the slight gamble of the selectors. His 85 not out yesterday takes his average to just under 50 in the 14 Test matches he has played since regaining his place in the England team just over a year ago. Not bad work for someone who was averaging 23.64 before then.

Watching him bat, you sense a man who is totally at ease with himself and his game. His movement before the ball leaves the bowler's hand is minimal, and smooth, simple and unrushed once it has. Renowned as a good player of fast bowling, it is the way the Surrey batsman has played Muralitharan that will have given him the greatest pleasure.

During the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval in 1998, Muralitharan tortured Butcher before the England man wildly and unwisely came down the wicket and was stumped. His current success is a testament of the hours of hard work put in behind the scenes.

Even though there are fewer left-handers in the game than right, it is surprising that only 17 per cent of Muralitharan's Test victims are of the left-handed variety. Explaining this disproportionate statistic is hard, but, even though it may sound stupid, turning the ball as much as Muralitharan does could be a hindrance. On many occasions, to hit the stumps he almost has to pitch the ball outside leg stump and this allows the lefties to freely pad the ball away. The lack of drift he gets also helps the batsmen, as they do not have to readjust themselves once the ball has left his hand.

Muralitharan did however trap one of his tormentors, Trescothick, caught at slip for an excellent 81. The Somerset batsman's innings was typically full of glorious cuts and drives and he was particularly savage before lunch on the man who eventually took his wicket.

Earlier, Trescothick was dropped twice in consecutive balls off the luckless Dilhara Fernando, who was comfortably the pick of the Sri Lankan seamers. Fernando, making his first Test appearance this summer, firstly had Trescothick dropped by Hashan Tillakaratne at gully on 64. Then next ball, Eric Upashantha dropped a dolly of a catch at square leg.

In grey, gloomy conditions on a hard, dry and cracked pitch, Hussain, after naming an unchanged side, won his second important toss in a row. The England captain, like 60 of the previous 67 successful tossers at this ground, decided to bat and it would only have taken a brief look outside before he could relax knowing he had made the correct decision.

Michael Vaughan and Trescothick walked out to bat knowing a good start from the two of them, and a good first day for the team, would go a long way in sealing a 1-0 series win for England. They were greeted by opening spells from Chaminda Vaas and Upashantha that were as challenging for England's openers as a conversation in the Big Brother household.

Vaughan was first out, falling to an excellent piece of bowling from Fernando, who had at least brought some vigour to the tourists' lacklustre effort. Through bending his back, the fast bowler showed this pitch was not devoid of help but it was a well-disguised slower ball that lured the Yorkshire batsman into chipping one to mid-off.

The next success for the burly bowler came in a similar vein to his first. Hussain, who came to the crease looking to be positive, was, like Vaughan, completely flummoxed by another slower ball, which, having an awful hack at, he top-edged to mid-off. Muralitharan fittingly took the catch, as it was his bowling which had forced Hussain to play recklessly against the seamers.

The late loss of Thorpe gave Upashantha something to smile about at last, but it will be the England dressing-room that would have been the happier last night.

Old Trafford Scoreboard

England won toss

ENGLAND ­ First Innings

M E Trescothick c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 81

215 min, 152 balls, 14 fours

M P Vaughan c Vaas b Fernando 36

74 min, 44 balls, 5 fours

M A Butcher not out 85

243 min, 166 balls, 13 fours

*N Hussain c Muralitharan b Fernando 16

30 min, 24 balls, 3 fours

G P Thorpe c Sangakkara b Upashantha 32

57 min, 47 balls, 6 fours

ÝA J Stewart not out 7

13 min, 8 balls, 1 four

Extras (b5, lb2, nb9) 16

Total (for 4, 318 min, 72 overs) 273

Fall: 1-66 (Vaughan), 2-192 (Trescothick), 3-219 (Hussain), 4-262 (Thorpe).

To bat: A Flintoff, A J Tudor, A F Giles, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard.

Bowling: Vaas 17-4-50-0 (nb2) (3-1-5-0, 4-0-23-0, 6-2-15-0, 4-1-7-0); Upashantha 7-0-50-1 (nb7) (4-0-24-0, 1-0-12-0, 2-0-14-1); Fernando 18-2-87-2 (6-1-21-1, 5-0-32-0, 7-1-34-1); Muralitharan 28-9-74-1 (3-0-22-0, 4-2-6-0, 21-7-46-1); De Silva 2-0-5-0 (one spell).

Progress: 50: 53 min, 9.5 overs. 100: 111 min, 22 overs. Lunch: 105-1 (Trescothick 53, Butcher 10) 25 overs. 150: 157 min, 34.4 overs. 200: 237 min, 54.2 overs. Tea: 215-2 (Butcher 69, Hussain 16) 55 overs. 250: 291 min, 67.2 overs. Bad light stopped play 4.58-5.25pm 257-3 (Butcher 82, Thorpe 28) 68.4 overs. Rain stopped play 5.45pm.

Trescothick 50: 116 min, 75 balls, 10 fours.

Butcher 50: 133 min, 101 balls, 8 fours.

SRI LANKA: M S Atapattu, R P Arnold, ÝK Sangakkara, D P M D Jayawardene, P A de Silva, *S T Jayasuriya, H P Tillakaratne, W P U C J Vaas, K E A Upashantha, C R D Fernando, M Muralitharan.

Umpires: S A Bucknor and D L Orchard. TV replay umpire: N A Mallender. Match referee: G R Vishwanath.

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