Sri Lanka’s brutal 5-0 whitewash over England yesterday has produced a feast of words in today’s Sunday papers.
Scyld Berry argues whether this is the most humiliating defeat in England’s one-day history:
It is difficult to believe, however, that any of England's defeats has been so comprehensive and humiliating as the one which left them with a 5-0 series whitewash. The only thing to be said in England's favour was that so few people watched it.
He also mentions that England are clearly missing Troy Cooley, their former Australian bowling coach who has returned to his native country.
His successor, Kevin Shine, has proved himself a capable replacement in these respects. What they are missing is the confidence that Cooley imbued in England's bowlers, especially their pace attack. An affable soul, he was more an older brother than a coach, and created a warm, comforting tent within the camp for those who were about to go over the top.
According to Vic Marks, England lost yesterday because they scored too many runs:
Obviously one of England's problems was that they scored too many runs themselves, 321, with Marcus Trescothick, inevitably, laying the foundation with his century. This meant that the Sri Lanka openers had to play with some licence. What licence. In this situation Jayasuriya, in particular, can be devastating. The ball sped into the stands, his trademark slices sailing over the off-side boundaries. If a fielder was stationed there, he cracked the ball to the the leg side instead.
Simon Wilde is similarly incensced and concerned by the bowling attack: “England’s fast bowling resources had already been revealed during this NatWest Series as chronically threadbare but their least glorious hour was saved for this final game”. He also sounds a warning ahead of the Pakistan series:
After such a rout, avoiding defeat to Pakistan will take some doing. Bob Woolmer, their coach, knows how to win matches in England and can be guaranteed to play a clever game. He has started by bringing in John Snow, the former England great, to teach his fast bowlers about local conditions.
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