Wisden
Tour review

England v Sri Lanka, 2014-15

Alan Gardner


Alastair Cook and his team-mates look dejected after the series loss, Sri Lanka v England, 7th ODI, Colombo, December 16, 2014
Alastair Cook and his team-mates look dejected after the series loss to Sri Lanka © Getty Images
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Match reports : England v Sri Lanka, 2014-15
Series/Tournaments: England tour of Sri Lanka
Teams: England | Sri Lanka

One-day internationals (7): Sri Lanka 5, England 2

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley." Robert Burns's dictum hung in the air throughout England's tour of Sri Lanka, which had been intended to provide a long, smooth run into the World Cup, but became a slippery slope instead. The seven-match series, scheduled towards the end of the monsoon season, was played under the perpetual threat of bad weather, although only one reserve day was required. For England, it rarely rained but poured, and a 5-2 defeat was their sixth loss in seven bilateral one-day series.

For Alastair Cook, it turned out to be the nightmare before Christmas. Dogged by criticism throughout 2014, and with his batting fraying at the edges, he maintained his commitment to the one-day captaincy until the end, but admitted after the final match that he could understand if the selectors took a different view. Coach Peter Moores and ECB managing director Paul Downton had publicly voiced their support, but the news that Cook was to be replaced by Eoin Morgan for the World Cup leaked out not long after the squad arrived home.

The ECB did not confirm the decision until the following day, as national selector James Whitaker tried to contact Morgan, in Australia for the Big Bash, to confirm his promotion. It was an undignified conclusion to Cook's captaincy, three and a half years after he had succeeded Andrew Strauss, but a dismal run of form had made his position untenable. Ironically, it was the previous winter's Ashes - brought forward to assist England's World Cup preparations - which proved the seedbed for the chaos that eventually claimed him.

By the end, Cook's belief - and the ECB's hope - that his one-day game could be resurrected appeared increasingly forlorn. His highest score in six attempts (he was banned for the fourth match because of poor over-rates) was 34, his average not even 20, his strike-rate 67. With just one fifty in 22 oneday innings since June 2013, Cook acknowledged his returns had not been good enough. A few days before Christmas, and his own 30th birthday, he discovered his present would be the equivalent of a lump of coal.

The decision represented an eleventh-hour attempt to reinvigorate the oneday team, less than two months from the start of the World Cup. During this trip, England shook their squad like a snow globe, and hoped a successful formula would settle. While a handful of performances provided genuine encouragement, the most significant conclusion was that Cook was no longer worthy of a place.

England actually finished the series with two of the three leading wickettakers (Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan) and two of the top four run-scorers (Joe Root and Moeen Ali). They battled gamely to stay in contention until the penultimate match, but two heavy defeats dulled any sense of progress. With Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene given emotional send-offs, Sri Lanka coasted to a comfortable victory, tightening the hold they had developed when winning across all three formats in England earlier in the year.

For Sangakkara, in particular, the setting sun bestowed a golden glow. He ticked off milestones like a rambler in the prime of life: the fourth man to pass 13,000 runs in one-day internationals; more than 1,000 in a calendar year for the fourth time in a row; the most international runs in a calendar year, surpassing Ricky Ponting. Sangakkara's tally of 454 equalled the fifth-highest for any bilateral one-day series - and all as he cosied up to Adam Gilchrist's mark for the most prolific wicketkeeper. He finished with 971 runs against England in all formats in 2014.

While Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan and Jayawardene led the way with the bat for Sri Lanka, England's senior triumvirate were in decline. Morgan managed one half-century, although it came while leading the side in Cook's absence, and maintained an impressive record with the bat as captain; Ian Bell was dropped after two games as England attempted a transfusion of fresh blood.

The most striking impact was made by Ali, who became Cook's third opening partner of the year. England initially justified bringing in Ali for Alex Hales by pointing to his all-round ability, and he bowled more overs than anyone on either side. He followed up a 21-ball half-century in the first warmup match, when he hit all six legitimate deliveries of the second over for four, with the third-fastest one-day international hundred by an England batsman. It was an innings that combined beauty and the beast; he cracked another rapid fifty in the Hambantota victory.

The common denominator in England's two wins was the presence of Root in the middle to finish off a run-chase. His hundred at Pallekele was his third in one-day internationals, and cemented his place at No. 4, where he was also involved in England's four highest partnerships. The two largest of those came with James Taylor, whose success seemed to come in spite, rather than because, of England's planning. He got his chance only when Cook was suspended, and made 90 on his first one-day appearance against anyone other than Ireland. It was the highest score by an England No. 3 since Jonathan Trott's 109 not out against New Zealand in June 2013.

Woakes made his World Cup case with 14 wickets, but Ben Stokes fell out of the running a year after his apparent breakthrough in Australia; his waywardness with the ball was in keeping with England's tally of 71 wides (to Sri Lanka's 28). James Tredwell was the only England bowler with an economy-rate of less than five an over. Whether the lessons learned would help the attack in Australasian conditions was another question for the bestlaid- plans department. But this was no longer a headache for Cook to deal with, as England went in search of a New Year's revolution.

Match reports for

Tour Match: Sri Lanka A v England XI at Colombo (SSC), Nov 21, 2014
Report | Scorecard

Tour Match: Sri Lanka A v England XI at Colombo (PSS), Nov 23, 2014
Scorecard

1st ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Nov 26, 2014
Report | Scorecard

2nd ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Nov 29, 2014
Report | Scorecard

3rd ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Hambantota, Dec 3, 2014
Report | Scorecard

4th ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Dec 7, 2014
Report | Scorecard

5th ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Pallekele, Dec 10-11, 2014
Report | Scorecard

6th ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Pallekele, Dec 13, 2014
Report | Scorecard

7th ODI: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo (RPS), Dec 16, 2014
Report | Scorecard

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