England face a terribly difficult last two days to their trip to Sri Lanka after a dismal day three of their third Test in Galle.  Sri Lanka scored a monumental 499/8 declared and we were dismissed for a measly 81.  England bowled and fielded very ordinarily apart from Steve Harmison who continued his on field come back with three of the eight wickets to fall.  The wicket, guaranteed from thousands of miles away, looks even and two paced and clearly when our batsmen started batting it was plain to see how difficult a wicket it is when the ball is put consistently in the correct place.

There will no doubt be various meeting this evening with the players and management to try and engender some much needed team spirit.   However it will be down to each and every individual within the team to gather not just their mental strength, but also their physical strength for what will be the sternest of tests.

It is very difficult when you have been fielding for what seems like an eternity in the baking heat of the subcontinent when it is your turn to bat but at least tomorrow the team will have had their feet up for a few hours and it is now imperative that we scrap our way out of this situation that we now find ourselves in.

Let’s hope that when we wake up at breakfast time we find our two openers at the crease.