England’s decision to halt bowling spin on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s has drawn criticism from former captain Eoin Morgan. With Sri Lanka struggling at 24 for 1, England opted to bring on seamers Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root instead of continuing with spin from both ends.
Morgan questioned the decision, citing the poor light conditions and Sri Lanka’s vulnerability. “It’s a questionable decision,” he said. “The reason behind that is just the whole context of the last hour or so: it is dark. There’s a reason the seamers can’t bowl: it is dangerous for everybody concerned.”
He emphasized the advantage England had with Bashir, England’s premium fingerspinner, and the fact that Sri Lanka had promoted Prabath Jayasuriya, a No. 9 batsman, to No. 4. “They’re bowling at a No. 9 at one end. Everything is in England’s favor,” Morgan said. “I question the decision… you have runs to play with, you have two or three new balls, everything in your favor. And yet you’re sitting in the changing room.”
England’s decision to come off the field left a near-capacity crowd at Lord’s disappointed. Captain Joe Root expressed the team’s desire to entertain fans, but acknowledged the safety concerns. “We pride ourselves on wanting people to come into the ground and feel like they’ve had a really enjoyable day of cricket, and can walk away wanting to come back for more Test cricket,” he said.
Ollie Pope, who is deputizing for Ben Stokes as captain, has faced criticism for his leadership. After scoring only 30 runs in four innings across the first two Tests, he was caught in the deep for 17 on Saturday.
Sri Lanka’s batting coach Ian Bell expressed hope that his team could still save the game. “The more we can spend time in the middle and that ball gets a bit softer…” he said. “This wicket has been quite a new-ball wicket, if you can get through that. There’s still plenty of batting, and that’s probably been the strength so far this tour: that middle-lower order have got some good runs.”
