England survived another torrid last day and managed to save the match. The great Houdini would have been proud of Englands last two escapes.
Vaughan played a captain's knock.
BTW what happened to the world's best all rounder, who built his reputation playing against the mighty BD.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
BTW what happened to the world's best all rounder, who built his reputation playing against the mighty BD.
[/QUOTE]
he has yet to learn the art of playing in slow and turning tracks agsint quality spinners but he is a very good allrounder still
good point saby - Andrew Flintoff has no experience on slow wickets - and i think he has struggled on this tour because of that.
well done to Micheal Vaughan - i have been saying he ain't a good leader to lead the English side but i think he is taking to the role of captain - he is improving as he goes along and he is certainly gaining more and more experience in leading the side.
Murli toiled hard as u can see
Flintoff and Batty revive ENG
[thumb=E]SL%20vs.%20ENG15637_2351377.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=E]SL%20vs.%20ENG_115637_2351377.JPG[/thumb]
~~ 3rd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (SSC), 18-22 Dec 2003 ~~
England won the toss and elected to bat first!!!
** England 1st innings **
@ stumps day - 1, England r 259/8 (95.0 ov)
English batsmen out so far
batsmen @ crease
Read 13*
Kirtley 1*
sri lankan bowling figures
:flower1: scorecard @ stumps day - 1 :flower1:](http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/NEW/LIVE/frames/ENG_SL_T3_18-22DEC2003.html)
damn, 20 maidens out of 37 overs for Murli. neat!
take a look at his performance in this series.
Name Mat O M R W Best Ave Econ SR 5 10
M Muralitharan 3 201.4 99 255 22 7-46 11.59 1.26 55.0 1 1
:k:
That’d be Flintoff… not Freddie 
This is intresting...
"Throw, throw, throw the ball, gently down the seam
Murali, Murali, Murali, Murali, chucks it like a dream
Bowl, bowl, bowl the ball, gently through the air
Murali, Murali, Murali, Murali, here comes Darrell Hair ... No Ball!"
The Barmy Army serenade Muttiah Muralitharan to the tune of 'Row Row Row The Boat, Gently Down The Stream'
Again Robert Croft is not in the side - and it is truly England's fault - - which is why in a sense i am glad they are getting beaten - serves them right really - the pitch will turn more and more as the match goes on and conditions will suit Muralitharan more and more.
Good knock by both Marcus and Flintoff - but again the batting collasped - England will have again its back against the wall - and this time it looks inevitable they will lose. :(
Sri Lanka pile up 563 for loss of 5 wickets only at close of play for day 3 :k:
while England were all done at 265.
A humiliating defeat for England. After beating the minnows they are back to earth with a bump. Surely, Nasser must be sulking, like he always does.
Murali scripts Sri Lanka’s series-clinching win over England](http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/031221/323/ehks6.html)
COLOMBO (AFP) - Muttiah Muralitharan gave a superb display of spin bowling to help Sri Lanka post their biggest-ever victory over England with more than a day to spare in the final cricket Test here.
Mystery spinner Muralitharan bagged 4-63 as Sri Lanka won by an innings and 215 runs on Sunday to clinch their first-ever Test series against England after two drawn matches at Galle and Kandy.
The off-spinner broke the back of England’s batting with his alarming turn and bounce as the tourists were shot out for a meagre 148 in their second innings after conceding a massive 363-run lead on the fourth day.
The hosts had earlier declared their first innings closed at 628-8 in reply to England’s 265.
Sri Lanka’s previous biggest win over England was by an innings and 28 runs at Galle two years ago.
England had clinched both of their previous two Test series against Sri Lanka, winning 2-1 in 2001 and 2-0 last year.
Muralitharan, who took 19 wickets in the first two Tests, finished with 26 victims and was named man of the series.
The 31-year-old was brilliantly supported by left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya (2-5) and paceman Dilhara Fernando (3-27) as England surrendered meekly.
Muralitharan’s victims included front-line batsmen Graham Thorpe (19) and Nasser Hussain (11) as he plotted the England collapse along with Jayasuriya. Fernando made short work of tail-enders.
Muralitharan was on a hat-trick when he had Thorpe (19) and Gareth Batty (nought) stumped off successive balls.
Thorpe jumped out to Muralitharan, but failed to read the turn as the ball moved the other way and went through his bat and pad for wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara to effect an easy stumping.
Batty was dismissed first ball as he played forward and Sangakkara brought off a smart stumping.
The wicket-keeper had earlier caught former England captain Hussain to give Muralitharan his first victim. The spinner then dismissed tail-ender James Kirtley to complete his tally.
After Muralitharan had shaken the foundations of England’s batting, Jayasuriya sent back Mark Butcher (37) and Chris Read (nought) in the space of 10 balls.
Butcher was bowled while Read was trapped leg-before as Jayasuriya kept a tight line and conceded just five runs in his nine overs.
Sri Lanka, resuming at 563-5, batted 49 minutes in the morning before declaring their innings closed.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, 72 overnight, was bowled by left-arm spinner Ashley Giles for 86 after hitting three fours in his 131-ball knock.
Upul Chandana (76) struck two sixes and seven fours before being dismissed by fast bowler Kirtley.
Tail-ender Muralitharan made an entertaining 21 not out off just 10 balls with two sixes and a four.
Giles, Kirtley and Flintoff finished with two wickets apiece.
it was England's worst defeat in 30 years - and i think it was a bit unfair schedule that really let the England side down - firstly there should be a break for England between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka tour - and then the England selectors screwed up the whole team selection - there was no Jimmy Anderson either - and unfaily England lost the ODI series because of whitewashed
however - Muttiah proved what it takes to be a winner - this guy is well on his way for 650 wickets in Test cricket.
ups and downs year for England - they lost Ashes series however won a single Test match in Australia - that was really a big boost - World Cup's performance was pathetic - then Nasir quit the captaincy which really shook the side - winning against Pakistan South Africa and Zimbabwe in Natwest series - and equalizing the Test series with South Africa were highlights of the year - Bangladesh tour doesn't come tho!
England doesn't play Cricket till March - so i guess this will be a enough time for England to rest and prepare for West Indies tour!