England's claim that they hold no fear of Sri Lanka's spinners was looking decidedly hollow tonight after an unconvincing batting display by the English middle order against a BCCSL Colts XI at De Soysa International Stadium, Moratuwa. Indeed, this was supposed to have been a gentle warm-up against a youthful Sri Lankan team, but the spinners, two of whom have never played first-class cricket, ran through England's middle order and eventually bowled them out for 252.

Marcus Trescothick Photo CricInfo

Had it not been for a thoroughly efficient century from Marcus Trescothick, they could well have faced considerable embarrassment. Sri Lanka used five spinners in all, but relied heavily on three bowlers who have all played for Sri Lanka Under-19s this year. The leg spinner, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, and off-spinner, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, are still at school and neither have played a first-class match. The trio took seven wickets in all.

On a pitch that was slow in pace and variable in bounce they looked relatively innocuous in the first half of the day as Trescothick and Nasser Hussain added 129 for the second wicket. However, after the dismissal of Hussain and the retirement of Trescothick after he completed his hundred, the inexperienced twirly men extracted increasing spin from the recently re-laid surface and caused problems for all the remaining batsmen. Having looked to be cruising on 163 for one, England lost their last eight wickets for a mere 98 runs.

Nasser Hussain was surprised by some extra bounce and gloved a simple catch to Malintha Perera behind the stumps. Michael Vaughan, a man desperate to impress after a frustrating spell on the sidelines, was cruelly trapped lbw without scoring to a ball that hugged the turf and struck him on his shins. Then, on the stroke of tea, Graeme Hick, who had been dropped at mid on when on two, was bowled around his legs for six as he attempted to sweep Lokuarachchi.

England went into tea on 197 for five, but with Graham Thorpe playing confidently there was little cause for alarm. He was his normal industrious self from the start. He worked the spinners diligently and impressed with some swift movement of the feet. However, soon after returning from tea, he chipped Lokuarachchi lamely to Hewage at mid-wicket.

Paul Nixon had been given a rare opportunity to impress, as the management decided to rest the precious Stewart for more important duels later on. Unfortunately, he failed to grab his chance and was adjudged lbw to his second delivery as he opted to play no stroke to a sharp leg-spinner from Lokuarachchi.

Craig White and Robert Croft threatened to repair the damage, especially after White abandoned the push and prod technique in favour of a more robust approach. Alas, a full-blooded sweep for six was followed by a diffident push and he was caught with ease by Sukitha Peiris at short leg. Caddick chipped in with a couple of lusty blows off the spinners, but was trapped lbw when the Colts XI opening bowler, Dinusha Fernando, was re-introduced into the attack. Despite a glance of disgust and a prolonged inspection of his boots, Darren Gough was adjudged to have been caught off bat and pad soon after, to wrap up the innings and give Ranil Dhammika a well-deserved third wicket.

The disappointing performance of the middle aside, Duncan Fletcher will take great heart from the innings of Marcus Trescothick and a battling 38 from Nasser Hussain. Trescothick will play a crucial role when England take on the more taxing proposition of Muttiah Muralitharan. Sri Lanka's freakish off-spinner admits to being less comfortable when bowling to left-handers, and both Thorpe and Trescothick have an opportunity to disrupt him.

On the evidence of today Trescothick has no fear of playing spin, and he was forthright in his approach. Although perhaps lucky to survive a couple of edges of the faster bowlers and one very enthusiastic shout for lbw against Lokuarachchi, he struck the ball with power and rarely failed to pierce the gaps. Against the spinners he favoured the sweep, but as he grew in confidence he also strode down the wicket and drove with purpose. He was retired on exactly 100 runs, which were gathered from 157 balls and included one mighty pull-sweep for six and fifteen fours.

Nasser Hussain, as he has done in recent times, struggled to find his timing and was forced to battle hard throughout his innings. Hit on his chest by a brute of a delivery from Akalanka Ganegama early on in his innings, he went through one spell in which he failed to score for 30 consecutive deliveries. However, having survived till lunch, he started to stroke the ball more sweetly in the afternoon session and his dismissal, to the first ball after the drinks interval, came as something of a shock.

These are early days on the tour, and the coach will not be unduly worried by the failure of his middle order. It will take time to adjust to the grimly slow pace and notoriously uneven bounce of Sri Lankan pitches. Nevertheless, the English batsmen will not be facing schoolboys when the real action commences in 17 days.

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