England's opening quandary and James Anderson at his best... TEST MATCH TALKING POINTS

NICK FRIEND: All ten wickets fell to seam when England were bowling, before Lasith Embuldeniya removed the tourists' openers for a third successive innings

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A doff of the cap to England’s greatest

Even by James Anderson’s remarkable standards, this might have been one of his greatest efforts. In a country where he took just one wicket on his last trip in 2018 – describing himself as “a spare part”, he recorded his best figures in Asia with a spell that was simply masterful from the outset.

Had this tour taken place as planned in 2020, Anderson wouldn’t have been in Sri Lanka at all: after suffering a rib injury in South Africa on England’s previous trip abroad, he was left out to rest ahead of the summer.

But here, he showed every inch of his enduring worth. Even at 38 years of age, he remains a fabulous bowler; he can scarcely have bowled better in these conditions.

He admitted after the opening day’s play that he had been more nervous than usual in the build-up, having sat out the first Test and watched Stuart Broad lead the line so impressively.

Faced with a slow, docile pitch, the extent of his skillset came to the fore, nibbling deliveries away from the left-handers and back into the right-handers in the absence of any swing. Whenever England needed a breakthrough, it was in Anderson’s direction that Joe Root turned; his setup to dismiss Niroshan Dickwella eight runs short of a deserved Test hundred – with little happening around him – was another nod to his class.

Mark Wood was a willing accomplice, sprinting in for 28 wholehearted overs, while Sam Curran was less effective, and at one stage was deployed as a surprise enforcer.

But as England look ahead to the battles ahead, there must surely be a temptation to pick Anderson and Broad together in India – no pair offer England better control.

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James Anderson took his 30th five-wicket haul in Test cricket

England seamers to the fore as spinners prove ineffective

Kumar Sangakkara predicted on Friday that the Galle pitch would be at its best on its second day. And as England toiled in the field, it was hard to dispute the forecast of the great man.

As Joe Root sought a breakthrough to a mostly chanceless stand between Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera, those thinking ahead to the upcoming tour of India could be forgiven for looking on with a sense of trepidation.

For, as dominant as England were in the first Test – and as charitable as Sri Lanka’s batsmen were on that occasion, this instalment – played out on a more traditional subcontinental surface – offered a far greater barometer of the challenges Root’s side will face during four Tests in Chennai and Ahmedabad.

The displays of Dom Bess and Jack Leach will have done little to put at ease any doubters, who worry about England’s ability to take 20 wickets against an Indian batting line-up feted in its home conditions.

As Sri Lanka’s innings wore on, Leach began to find some sharp spin to the right-handed Perera, but Bess struggled for consistency. He bowled too straight to cause much nuisance: Dickwella slog-swept at will, while Perera danced down the wicket to plant boundaries over mid-off and extra-cover.

Though there was little assistance overall for the slower bowlers, it will come as some concern that they were milked so readily. There were too many full tosses and drag-downs, and it was a surprise that neither Root nor Dan Lawrence were called upon – both are handy options and will be needed to offer respite in India.

For the first time ever at Galle, all 10 wickets fell to seamers – the first time that has happened anywhere in Sri Lanka since 1994. Just 5.2 overs into England’s reply, however, the threat of spin had well and truly returned…

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Mark Wood ran in impressively for England

How to solve a problem like Embuldeniya

Six times out of six.

Lasith Embuldeniya has emerged as kryptonite to England’s opening pair. As a combination, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley find themselves 8 for 6 in 55 balls against the Sri Lankan left-arm spinner, a fine bowler who mixes a consistency of line and length with subtle, intelligent variations.

In truth, his success – he spun the ball sharply with the new ball – merely served to highlight the limitations of England’s own spin pair, who caused little concern to the home side’s batsmen and were unable to tie them down.

In Crawley and Sibley, however, England have been left with a dilemma ahead of the upcoming four-Test series in India.

It has already been announced that Jonny Bairstow will miss the first two matches as he returns to England for a rest period, with Rory Burns and Ben Stokes both returning after sitting out. It means, therefore, that the current opening pair will likely continue, though almost certainly with Crawley moving back to No.3 as Burns resumes at the top of the order.

There are alternatives, should England wish to alter their plans, though that would involve some creativity – possibly picking both Jos Buttler and Ben Foakes or, if fit, selecting both Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence.

Crawley has already shown in his short Test career that he has a game against spin; he was particularly accomplished in his treatment of Yasir Shah during his double hundred against Pakistan. But for Sibley, the jury remains out on his technique in subcontinental conditions: he has been dismissed twice with his bat coming across the ball.

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Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley have struggled against Lasith Embuldeniya

It is worth remembering, of course, the mitigating factors – chiefly, that county cricket provides nothing like the experience against spin to which the pair are being exposed in Galle. They are learning on the job, and so it is little wonder that they are finding the going tough.

It leaves one wondering whether Keaton Jennings, a left-hander with a fine record in Sri Lanka, might have been a worthy selection. Several onlookers certainly touted him for a call-up; he made a century when England toured in 2018 and was named in the squad for the trip in 2020 that was ultimately curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

But having made their choices for the immediate future, England will hope putting faith in an inexperienced top order pays off.

Both Crawley and Sibley have shown themselves to be fast learners in the early days of their international careers, and so the onus is now on them to solve their latest puzzle. It won't be an easy one against a high-quality set of spinners led by Ravichandran Ashwin. 

The pride of Yorkshire...

Root and Bairstow saw the tourists to the close, with the captain waltzing past Sir Geoffrey Boycott in the process as England's highest-scoring Yorkshireman in Test cricket.

With the way he's playing at the moment, there will be several more landmarks to come.

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