Sri Lanka in mind games

England captain Nasser Hussain will tell his players to put the umpiring controversies of the first Test against Sri Lanka behind them as they bid to stay in the three-match series this week.

The home team, however, will be only too delighted to play a few mind games before Wednesday's second Test by reminding the tourists of their frustrations during their innings and 28-run defeat in Galle.

England, always fighting for survival after losing the toss on a crumbling pitch tailor-made for the Sri Lankan spinners, felt their efforts to salvage a draw were undermined by a series of umpiring decisions.

Constant appealing by the Sri Lankan close fielders - which led to four of them being fined - helped raise the tension still further.

Hussain, while clearly frustrated, has tried to look forward rather than back. He said: "We can go on about umpiring for as long as we want but...we have to get on with it."

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, however, has resurrected the issue just before the second Test in Kandy, which is likely to follow a similar pattern on a pitch designed to wear quickly and offer appreciable turn.

"You can't complain at umpires. They make mistakes because they are only human," he said.

"You can't say it was cheating. When an umpire makes a mistake on the sub-continent, it is called cheating, and when an umpire makes a mistake anywhere else in the world, it is down to human error," he told BBC radio.

BOUND TO APPEAL

Muralitharan, playing on his home pitch in Kandy, added: "England used their pads and not their bats. When the play is negative, you are bound to appeal. There was no pressure being put on the umpires. You have to appeal. That's the game."

Sri Lanka's wily former captain Arjuna Ranatunga also enjoyed a dig.

"It has amused me greatly to see British press reaction to the events in Galle," he wrote in the London-based Observer newspaper.

"All a batsman has to do to stop himself falling to umpiring error is to hit the ball with the middle of the bat."

Sri Lanka look set to change their team despite their comprehensive win in the first test.

Pace bowler Dilhara Fernando looks certain to be replaced after bowling just two overs in the first innings and four in the second.

Struggling off-spinner Kumar Dharmasena's place could also under threat. He managed just a single wicket in Galle, while Muralitharan took seven and captain Sanath Jayasuriya, an opening batsman who bowls a bit, took eight.

England, meanwhile, look likely to retain seamer Andrew Caddick after his tidy first-Test display as well as off-spinner Robert Croft, despite his lack of penetration.

Graeme Hick will again be challenged for the final batting berth by Michael Vaughan although Hick, given a one-match suspended ban after he questioned his first-innings dismissal in the first test, looks set to get the nod.

Hussain's lack of runs at number three continues to be a worry.

But the England captain may spend as much time practising tossing the coin as donning his pads over the next few days.

For England to have any chance of success, they will surely have to bat first in Kandy.

Possible teams:

Sri Lanka - Sanath Jayasuriya (captain), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Aravinda de Silva, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Tuwan Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena.

England - Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Nasser Hussain (captain), Graham Thorpe, Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Craig White, Ashley Giles, Robert Croft, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough.

Mail Cricket Editor