Monday, May 20, 2002
Monday, May 20, 2002 |
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Cricket
By Ted Corbett
Every run today came courtesy of the slippery palms of Sanath Jayasuriya, who dropped him twice in three overs at first slip but it was a majestic innings all the same. Vaughan plays forward almost exclusively so that his runs are always pleasantly made and for once he obtained as much of the bowling as he would want, outscored his partner Marcus Trescothick and drove through the offside in the Hutton manner. In other words, this was the Vaughan innings we have been promising ourselves since he arrived in the England side three years ago. Geoff Boycott, another Yorkshire giant, told me to be patient when I criticised Vaughan's first innings was cut short too early. "He'll score plenty, '' he said in those brooking-no-argument tones that are his trademark and he is right. The extra cover drive off Fernando with which he went to 99 was in the finest Hutton tradition; smooth, powerful and beautifully timed. He might have been out to anyone of the next three balls and was dropped by Kumar Sangakkara off the third. No wonder, he ran his next single as if demons pursued him. He might also have been out at 28 when Jayasuriya let slip an easy chance off Fernando and again at 33 off Nuwan Zoysa. Perhaps, the realisation of his own mortality made him understand that he was at least in luck and from that moment, he barely put a foot wrong until he was 99. England will hope that this long, troubled innings turns him into a star. The stand of 168 between Vaughan and Trescothick, England's biggest since 1998 when Michael Atherton and Mark Butcher put on 179 against South Africa at Edgbaston, has also established them as the ideal Test opening pair for the foreseeable future. Both are in their middle twenties, rivals for the captaincy, in their prime as batsmen and desperate to leave their mark. Their progress in the next five years will be a constant source of interest. Trescothick's innings was quieter and brought to an unfortunate end when umpire Darryl Harper ignored a thick inside edge and gave the nod to an lbw appeal from Zoysa when there was no reason to doubt Trescothick would also go to a century. England spent the time to tea searching for the 280 needed to make Sri Lanka bat again but it was helped by the clearest signs that Ruchira Perera has been upset by claims that he throws. It is a big talking point in all the British newspapers and in private senior international players turned commentators have gasped at the first sight of his action. In his first spell, he bowled only two overs, for 13 runs, before Jayasuriya took over. It left Jayasuriya short of options as England gained in confidence even though Mark Butcher found run-scoring difficult. By the time it had passed 200, Vaughan was dominating the play and the other 12 players on the field were mere bit players; but at 213 he fell to the second ball of Perera's new spell. Vaughan's dismissal brought an end to romantic notions of a big total. Hussain launched Aravinda de Silva's off break high into the outfield as soon as he got to the crease. But with Butcher bogged down only 17 runs came in the eight overs between Vaughan's departure and tea, at 230 for two, as England concentrated on survival.
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