England in its upcoming October – November winter tour of Sri Lanka faces the tough task of keeping its own expectations high. Despite fielding a remodelled & renovated test squad, the team over the past five years recorded only four Test match victories of which one win was racked-up in Asia. The occasion, in Chittagong just shy of two years past, also signifies their last triumph having received drubbings in 10 of the past 13 outings, having since hit an absolute rock bottom in the wake of a 1-0 series loss during their April 2018 tour of New Zealand, with matches played in conditions suitable to have delivered a draw at worst.
History, along with the strong Sri Lankan cricketing culture, currently sides against the English team. The English will have to face a constant attack by some of the best ball-spinners in the game from both ends of the pitch on turning wickets. It potentially promises to be a slaughterhouse, especially so considering two, of what is arguably the cricket world’s premier, teams failed miserably when South Africa and Australia respectively received a 2-0 & 3-0 butchering at the hands of the Sri Lankan spinners, wickets, and local fan pressure.
Even peering into the crystal ball at this early stage one sees a heavily stacked deck tilting against the English cricketers. All early indicators point to Sri Lanka offering standout win values, a fact that has bookmakers in agreement, offering pretty favourable odds at the moment. Currently, punters will find the best bookmakers at Betenemy, a website dedicated to providing sports betting tips, predictions and bookmaker reviews for many of the web’s premier bookmakers.
New Opening Combination
This leaves the English in search of an effective opening combination who must face the fiendish task of dragging the team out of the doldrums, a situation becoming somewhat of a norm as of late. In addition, England will experience one of the harshest cricketing environs in the world without the benefit of Alastair Cook’s highly experienced guiding hand behind them. However, this still does not represent or address the team’s most dire concern, over the past six years they have unsuccessfully tried finding a suitable replacement for the retired Andrew Strauss.
As openers, Rory Burns and Joe Denly, look to be the most promising combination from the top order batsmen. Having recorded an enviable run-scoring tally in county cricket places Burns in a great position to fulfil the role and 32-year-old Denly having proven his mettle and readiness as a top order batter in nine ODI matches, bearing out the clamour for his selection in the media.
Despite Keaton Jennings’ flat-footed un-English batting style and stance, he has proven himself a survivor unlikely to be exposed by spinner favouring wickets, perhaps his South African birth and sports heritage will assist when the Sri Lankan spinners next try to dissect him with their moving ball.
Unfortunately, England’s most pressing concern will only arrive later as the ball softens to further limit run scoring, and surface roughens becoming even more grippy in favour of the spinning wicket. It is then when the English middle order arrives that they will be most hard-pressed to display the necessary steel and technical experience in countering spinners.
