Arnold and De Silva are two of completely different moulds. Arnold as all left handers is a stylist while De Silva is more of a mauler of the bowling.
The tall left hander playing in the opening game entered the record books with a double hundred (209) against Somerset in the second innings which finally saved Sri Lanka from the ignominy of an innings defeat.
When the batting crumbled in the first innings for 116 after Somerset had piled up a massive 366 for 6 it looked as if the locals would begin their important tour of England with an innings defeat.
But Arnold who has not been given his rightful place put his head down and playing an innings that would have made the tour selectors take note went from strength to strength playing some exquisite strokes allround the wicket and especially excelling with eye catching drives through the covers.
Arnold in notching this double hundred joined former batting greats such as Sir Donald Bradman and W. M. Woodful to name a few who had made double hundreds on their first class appearance in England.
On the tour of the West Indies and South Africa he made his presence felt with some big knocks, but had the misfortune of missing out owing to the form of the more established batsmen in the side.
Conditions in England, unless its a sunny day is not easy for batting, leave alone playing the game. It can be cold and difficult. But Arnold showed what a good batsman he is by quickly settling down and putting the opposing bowlers to the sword.
Along with Hashan Tillekeratne, Arnold pave the way to escape from defeat and finally when the game ended Sri Lanka who were at one time facing an innings defeat recovered admirably to lead their opponents by 248 runs and then have them on the ropes at 177 for 7 when time caught up.
Arnold must not be complacent with this double hundred but continue to make runs flow from his bat so that the selectors would not ignore him.
Tillekeratne whose selection came in for a bit of criticism, hit back at his detractors with two good knocks. He has the ideal temperament and the staying powers that is required in the longer version of the game and showed that he will be strongly challenging for a slot in the middle order.
Pramodaya Wickremasinghe who has also experienced the critics bite in recent times bowled well within himself and England where conditions are ideal or seam and swing bowling showed that he was out to cock a snook at his detractors with an effort that should keep him in the frame when selection time comes around for the big ones.
Two of the great batsmen in modern day cricket Sachin Tendulkar and Aravinda de Silva got their acts together to entertain the full house at Lord's on a beautiful summer day with high class batsmanship, in the Diana Princess of Wales memorial match on Saturday.
After West Indian champion Chandrapaul and Indian skipper Azharuddin did their acts for the MCC, Tendulkar and De Silva got on stage to provide a scintillating show as they took apart the bowling with strokeplay which had class written all over.
Consistency is the hall mark of great batsmen and Tendulkar and De Silva have this in abundance. Once they get going they provide a batting dish that is savoured by one and all.
There is no doubt that they are two of the games great batting craftsmen. They proved this in no uncertain terms and it is everyone's wish that they continue to entertain wherever they play.
Tendulkar will always be Tendulkar and not another Bradman. He must forget comparisons and continue to make runs as only he could do. The greatest batsman that the game has ever known Sir Donald Bradman used to rattle up triple centuries in a day. Tendulkar has yet to perform similarly. Maybe when he does that comparisons could be made.
As for Sanath Jayasuriya who also played in this game, he came a cropper. He must understand that as we have said earlier, consistency is the hallmark of great batsmen. But sadly Jayasuriya is lacking in this.
After his record breaking 340 against India in a test, he has run into a run drought. Perhaps he will come out of the desert soon to bloom for Sri Lanka.