Anderson, Bairstow and Hales top Test talking points
Monday 23 May 2016 09:03, UK
The first Investec Test match of the summer lasted just three days as England outclassed Sri Lanka at Headingley.
Alastair Cook's side romped to victory by an innings and 88 runs with Jonny Bairstow hitting a first Test century on home soil and James Anderson taking 10-45 in the match, as an inexperienced Sri Lanka batting line up struggled in bowler-friendly conditions.
Here are just some of the things we learned from a one-sided encounter in Leeds…
England's swing king moved up to sixth on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers following a stunning showing on a ground he has previously struggled at. His second of 10 wickets in the match saw him go past Kapil Dev's 434 wickets and, with 443 of his own, the Englishman now has just two seamers ahead of him - Glenn McGrath (563) and Courtney Walsh (519).
As such it is surely safe to talk about Anderson as one of England's greats, at the very least. 2005 Ashes winner Steve Harmison certainly thinks so.
"James Anderson has to be talked about as one of the greats of our game," he told Sky Sports. "McGrath finished when he was 36, Walsh when he was 38, so of course Anderson, at only 33, can keep going and pass both of them.
"They are two of the best fast bowlers of all time, so people have got to be looking now and saying that Anderson is in that same league."
Given the way he has batted since coming back into the Test side midway through last summer's Ashes, it is a surprise that it has taken until now for Bairstow to really cement his place in the England team.
Indeed, during his time with England his ability has been questioned, but over the past year, the Yorkshireman has been excellent. So good, in fact, that few batsmen in world cricket can match his first class record since the beginning of last summer.
Now, having recorded his maiden Test century at Cape Town over the winter, he has added a second, on his home ground. It was a remarkable innings in that while others toiled in the toughest of conditions for batsmen, Bairstow never looked troubled.
He scored a good rate and transformed the England innings before eventually falling for 140. The critics have been answered and Bairstow, it seems, is going nowhere.
As much as England headed into the match as clear favourites, much of the talk beforehand was of the hosts' less than stellar record at Headingley in recent times.
A record of just one win, a draw and five defeats, including the dramatic loss to Sri Lanka in 2014, in Leeds since victory over the West Indies in 2007 hardly inspired confidence. On top of that, Anderson and Stuart Broad had both spoken of difficulties at the ground - the former averaged close to 40 before this match - in the build-up.
However, Cook and his team will hope that any such issues can be put to bed after the most convincing of wins in which a change of ends saw a dramatic upturn in fortunes for his opening bowlers.
All in all, it was a dismal three days for Sri Lanka. Having made early inroads to reduce England to 83-5 soon after lunch on day one, they let their hosts off the hook before twice collapsing horribly with the bat.
Despite that, there was the odd bright spot for Angelo Mathews and his team to cling onto going into the second Test.
All-rounder Dasun Shanaka was brought in more for his batting than his bowling but showed that he could have an important role to play with the ball as he took three quick wickets on the opening morning. His ability to move the ball through the air and off the pitch could prove very useful in English conditions.
With the bat, Kusal Mendis showed promise at No 3. There was little he could do about a beauty from Broad that accounted for him in the first innings, and in the second he showed no fear as he produced a wide array of shots to reach his maiden half-century in Test cricket.
The Nottinghamshire opener came into this series under pressure to perform after struggling to make an impact in South Africa over the winter.
England stuck with him though and Hales showed that he is more than willing to fight for his place at the top of the order with a gritty knock of 86 in treacherous conditions for batting (unless you are Jonny Bairstow).
"It was a quite out-of-character innings by Alex Hales, who you expect to be looking to hit fours and sixes all the time but he left the ball pretty well," said Bob Willis. "You've got to hand it to him for the way he played."
Having shown he is capable, the challenge for Hales now is to maintain the same level of application for the rest of the series and beyond.
Watch the second Investec Test between England and Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street from 10am on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2 HD.
