NatWest Series, Match 4, Headingley
Tuesday, July 2, 2002

That turned into a great day for us in the end, although the omens weren't too good at the start. The conditions were difficult, very blustery, and though that was a very impressive run-chase, I was disappointed with our bowling and fielding. Jayasuriya played a cracking innings, but we had him caught off a no-ball, and dropped at backward-point, and he should have been run out by four yards as well. You can't give someone of his class that many opportunities - we've got the likes of Sehwag and Tendulkar to come in our next match, so we have got to tighten up.

But once he got in and started teeing off, there really wasn't a lot we could do. He played it very cleverly, and only ever hit downwind, as there was a hefty breeze blowing across the ground. Once the ball went it just kept going, so we had to keep trying different things, pitching the ball up, digging it in a bit, bowling yorkers. Having Goughie back was invaluable to be honest; his experience helped the other guys no end, particularly Freddie [Flintoff] who was the pick of our bowlers.

This pitch was much more to Freddie's liking – the one at Lord's was a used track that had lost some of its nip, but this one was tailor-made for the hit-the-deck bowlers. We were probably a little ill-balanced to be honest, as both Hoggy and James Kirtley are skiddier, swinging-type bowlers, and it wasn't really happening for them.

Hoggy's having a tough trot at the moment, but he's a hard-working lad and the type of guy we want to give a good run to. He's an honest bloke and he'd admit he was a bit below par at the moment, but when you're young and inexperienced – as I well know – your peaks and troughs can be very high and very low. We just want to give him all the support we can, and we figured that he deserved an outing in front of his home crowd. He did find a bit of swing today, but for the most part it was swinging onto the legs, and Jayasuriya in particular had no problem putting him away.

Ashley Giles was a close call for selection here, but we were swayed by the reduction in the overs. When it's 32-a-side and the batters have got a licence to go for their shots and get after the spinners, we figured he wouldn't really get much of a chance. Besides, it's been a damp day, so with a wet ball, and cold, gusting winds as well he'd have been up against it. The Sri Lankans all play spin well, and their own spinners didn't make much impact either.

The reduction of the overs actually worked in Sri Lanka's favour, so for us to come out with a victory is even more impressive. They have got a powerful batting line-up, but it is not as long as ours, so they are sometimes hesitant in going for their shots in case they end up 5 or 6 wickets down at the halfway point. Today, as Jayasuriya proved, that didn't matter, so it brought the top six into the game. We were fairly content with 32 overs each, but any fewer than that and we'd have been a lot less happy.

Still, for Alec Stewart to come out to bat for us at No.8 was a real bonus, and hopefully we'll be batting all the way down to No.9 if Giles, Alex Tudor or Jeremy Snape establishes themselves. Stewart and Paul Collingwood batted really well, and that was the key partnership for us. Colly has been in good nick all season from what I've seen of him, and as he proved today, he's turning into a very useful cricketer.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Andrew Miller. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of England's international cricket this summer.

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