Cricket: Punch-drunk England team call it a day

By RICHARD GIBSON, in Colombo


Skipper Michael Vaughan conceded that England had been worn down by Sri Lanka after a punishing three-test series ended in their heaviest test defeat for 30 years.

Dismissed for 265 in their first innings of the third test, England allowed Sri Lanka to build a massive total of 628 for eight declared.

They had almost two days to bat out for a third successive draw, but having shown their fighting qualities in the first two tests, they slid to 148 all out in a little over four hours to lose by an innings and 215 runs.

It was their third heaviest loss in their 816-test history.

England were heading for defeat midway through the first day when they lost five wickets for 61 in 27 overs after Vaughan won his first toss of the series.

Vaughan said: "We have been on the ropes for three games and the final knockout blow was today. You can only keep taking so many punches ... we could not withstand any more."

Six dropped catches in the final test, half of which came after some of the players were kept awake until the early hours of Saturday by a disco at their hotel, blighted their chances, but Vaughan refused to make excuses.

"I wouldn't blame any sort of fatigue. The boys came into this match full of exuberance, we were 0-0 and fully expected a better performance," he said.

He believed Muttiah Muralitharan and his own new version of the googly had been a major factor in the series.

"Our experienced batting has come up against a world-class off-spinner.

"Murali's away-going delivery was a major problem, even for our experienced batsmen. He was the pick of their bowlers, but I thought their other spinners and seamers did well, too," Vaughan said.

During their successful tour here in 2001, England's batsmen all but conquered Murali.

Their methods of smothering the spinner may not have been pretty, but they worked. In three test matches he claimed 14 victims at a cost of 30 runs a wicket.

For this series, though, Murali went back to the nets to develop his "doosra" - a ball from an off-spinner that turns away from a right-handed batsman.

The legitimacy of this delivery has caused plenty of controversy, but the effect has been startling.

It is the only addition to his armoury since England's last visit, but it has allowed him to take 26 wickets in this series at an average of 13.5.

The prolific spinner now has 485 wickets in 85 tests.

England's 10 heaviest test defeats

* To Australia, by an innings and 332 runs at Brisbane in 1946-47.

* To the West Indies, by an innings and 226 runs at Lord's in 1973.

* To Sri Lanka, by an innings and 215 runs in Colombo in 2003-04.

* To Australia, by an innings and 200 runs at Melbourne in 1936-37.

* To the West Indies, by an innings and 180 runs at Edgbaston in 1984.

* To Australia, by an innings and 180 runs at Trent Bridge in 1989.

* To the West Indies, by an innings and 161 runs at Kingston in 1934-35.

* To the West Indies, by an innings and 156 runs at Old Trafford in 1988.

* To Australia, by an innings and 154 runs at Brisbane in 1954-55.

* To Australia, by an innings and 149 runs at the Oval in 1948.


- INDEPENDENT