The fact that Powell is an off-spinner will give Nick Knight more options, with Sri Lanka having three left-handers in their top six. This will be Powell's second first-class game - he took one wicket on his Essex debut against Leicestershire at Colchester last summer.

Owais Shah, who arrived with Powell after both had returned home for two days following the England Under-19s' World Cup victory in South Africa, was not considered. The coach, Mike Gatting, said he would definitely play in the third Test next week.

The three players who missed the drawn first Test in Kurunegala get their chance at Matara today.

David Sales comes in for Andrew Flintoff, David Nash takes over from Chris Read behind the stumps and Dougie Brown replaces Jimmy Ormond. Ormond, not naturally flexible, strained his back on the five-hour coach journey from Kurunegala.

The changes mean a much stronger batting line-up, with Brown being an all-rounder and Nash a wicketkeeper-batsman. Gatting wants to see a more positive approach than in the first Test. They now know what the Sri Lankan spinners are capable of.

Marvan Atapattu, the Sri Lankan captain in the first Test, said that Matara, like all 'out station' grounds (this one being in the far south of the island), would be slow.

Ranjith Fernando, the Sri Lanka manager, feels the pitch should at least be quicker than Kurunegala, but unless it is significantly so, another draw looks a strong possibility with only four days' play.

England A (from): *N V Knight, S P James, D L Maddy, M A Ealham, D J Sales, B C Hollioake, D R Brown, -D C Nash, A F Giles, D A Cosker, J C Powell, P M Hutchison.