England benefited from what Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews deemed an “unfair” change of ball on their way to claiming a five-wicket win in the first Test at Old Trafford.
Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis had kept an England side deprived of fast bowler Mark Wood at bay with a brilliant unbeaten hundred on Saturday.
Sri Lanka were 6-291 in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day, a lead of 169 runs, with Mendis 101 not out — the 25-year-old left-handed batsman’s third hundred in just four Tests.
Dinesh Chandimal was unbeaten on 62 after playing his part in an unbroken stand of 101 in 26 overs that frustrated England’s bid to go 1-0 up in this three-match series.
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England dominate day 3 against Sri Lanka | 01:12
Sri Lanka resumed on 6-204, just 82 runs ahead, after wicketkeeper Jamie Smith’s maiden Test century had been the cornerstone of England’s first-innings 358.
Mendis was 56 not out and Chandimal 20 not out after veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews fell for 65 following a ball change.
That ball change was a big talking point to come out of the Test, with Mathews criticising the move and declaring it “changed the entire momentum of the game”.
The change came after the 41st over of the innings, with standing umpires Chris Gaffaney and Paul Reiffel giving England the all clear to swap out the ball.
At that point, the tourists were 4-146 with Mathews not out on 59 and Mendis on 33.
“It looked like they were running out of plans but unfortunately the ball was changed,” Mathews told Sky Sports before the start of the fourth day’s play.
“We were told they didn’t have old enough balls to replace. It changed the entire momentum of the game. You work so hard to get rid of that shine, and we did that. Once the ball was changed, it was a whole different game.”
Mathews was also quoted telling BBC’s Test Match Special that Sri Lanka was “sitting pretty” before the change.
“I think it could be unfair for batters on both teams, because the batters want to get rid of the hard, shiny ball, and once we got to the 48-over mark, I think we were quite comfortably playing them,” he said.
“Taking nothing away from England, they bowled extremely well. It’s just that, it all depends on the manufacture of the ball as well. It could be from 2020 to 2023, it could have some changes, and also it’s all about having a set of rules around how you change the ball.
“If it doesn’t go through the rings, yes it’s obvious. But if the seam position changes and all that, we kind of get rid of the seam by cutting the seam as well. It’s just my opinion, but it can be very disadvantageous for the set batters.
“We were quite comfortable and it changed the entire momentum of the game.”
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It is the not the first time an opposition player has claimed England reaped the benefits of a ball change, with England also at the centre of a similar controversy against Australia at The Oval last year.
Ricky Pointing declared at the time that the ball change had to be “investigated”.
“This is a complete contrast to what we saw bowling conditions-wise yesterday,” Ponting said.
“It has got to be this change of ball. There was absolutely nothing happening. Australia dominated. Totally different this morning, that’s for sure.
“I just cannot fathom how two international umpires that have done that a lot of times can actually get that so wrong.”
Not everyone was complaining though, with Sri Lanka’s batting coach Ian Bell conceding the seam on the ball “did look pretty awful”.
“Unfortunately, you have to accept in these conditions a ball change can swing around,” he said.
Sri Lanka fight back against England | 01:10
Set 205 to win against Sri Lanka, England were faltering at 56-2 when star batsman Joe Root (62) came in shortly before tea on the fourth day.
But together with Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook (32) he shared a grinding partnership of 49 in 20 overs — a far cry from England’s ‘Bazball’ approach of recent years — although a still slow outfield made boundaries hard to come by.
“We had to work hard for that over the four days but we bowled really well throughout,” stand-in England captain Ollie Pope told the BBC.
“Jamie Smith batted so well and then Joe (Root) put on a clinic for us at the end.”
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva added: “We knew that England would come hard against us. We had our plans but in the first innings we couldn’t execute them.
“Our mistakes were made in the first innings and that cost us the match.”
Source Agencies
