da wazamba： As and when England are finally put out of their misery in thisseries, the world rankings will reveal that their golden era isofficially over. In one fell swoop, they will have slipped from No. 2 to No. 5, the result of two indifferent years since the 2
da betobet： Andrew Miller at Galle20-Dec-2007
Paul Collingwood: ‘I can’t think of many worse days, and I’ve personallybeen through plenty in my career’ © Getty Images
As and when England are finally put out of their misery in thisseries, the world rankings will reveal that their golden era isofficially over. In one fell swoop, they will have slipped from No. 2to No. 5, the result of two indifferent years since the 2005 Ashes inwhich they have lost 11 out of 27 Tests and won just eight.None of those defeats, however, will have been as spineless andpathetic as this, the twelfth, threatens to be. If a decline wasinevitable after the loss of so many stalwarts of the 2005 side, acapitulation most certainly wasn’t. England were utterly abject on thethird day at Galle. They were an embarrassment in the field, theylacked judgement at the crease, they were brainless between the wicketsand their body language screamed surrender. Mahela Jayawardene accusedthem of “giving up” after yesterday’s apathetic efforts, but it turnsout there was an even deeper level of apathy to be attained.”We’re disappointed, simple as that,” said Paul Collingwood, whosedetermined 29 was the closest that any of England’s specialist batsmencame to respectability. “It’s been two-and-a-half big days in thefield and Sri Lanka came out and hit us pretty hard today. They bowledwell with the new ball, took early wickets and put us under pressure.But we can’t make excuses,. We haven’t been good enough today and sofar in the Test match we haven’t been on the ball.”Collingwood is too honest to offer platitudes. He started to talk ofshowing “guts and determination, or whatever you want to call it,” butsmiled wryly as he said it, and eventually gave up pretending. “If wecan get a draw from here it will be miraculous,” was his laterassessment. “I can’t think of many worse days, and I’ve personallybeen through plenty in my career.”He certainly has. Collingwood was the man stranded on the sinking shipat Adelaide last winter, the last great nadir of England’s post-2005fortunes. But even that debacle somehow feels more forgiveable thanthis one. Australia are, after all, cricket’s natural bullies, and inShane Warne they had an opponent who loves nothing better than to preyon the meek and vulnerable.Sri Lanka, of course, have their own champion spinner MuttiahMuralitharan, but today his only job was to extract the limpet-likeRyan Sidebottom, whose 70-ball innings used up more deliveries thansix of the top seven combined. Instead England were scythed down bythe medium pace of Chaminda Vaas, who sized up exactly where not topitch the ball during his rollicking innings of 90, and then set aboutgetting his line and length exactly right.Only Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen could be exonerated in the mannerof their dismissals – Pietersen received a brute from Lasith Malingathat hardly bodes well for England’s survival prospects. But thenagain, what prospects? Christmas may still be five days away, buttheir goose is already cooked to a cinder. “These days hit you prettyhard but it’s not for the lack of pride or passion,” said Collingwood.”The desire is definitely there, but it’s just been a bad day.”England are, however, all too prone to days such as these.Particularly on the subcontinent, and particularly when Christmas isjust around the corner. Four years ago at Colombo, England slumped totheir third-heaviest defeat of all time, having clung on toconsecutive draws at Galle and Kandy. And in Pakistan in December 2005- in a series that is panning out in a remarkably similar fashion -they were walloped at Lahore having entered the Test needing a win tosquare the series.The class of 2005 were, however, good enough to beat Pakistan – theyblew their chances with a careless collapse in the opening match atMultan, and then folded like a bored poker player. After all, theystill had their Ashes winnings to fall back on. This new-lookEngland, regardless of their efforts at Kandy, have not been equal toany of Sri Lanka’s many challenges. Their collapse in this Test was athrowback to the dark days of the 1990s, when such disasters weretwo-a-penny.England were utterly abject on thethird day at Galle. They were an embarrassment in the field, theylacked judgement at the crease, they were brainless between the wicketsand their body language screamed surrenderDoubtless the itinerary will come in for some scrutiny – 15 days ofTest cricket in 22 is a lot of hard yakka – but Collingwood disputedthat the team were feeling the strain. “We felt pretty good cominginto this Test match,” he said. “We didn’t feel we were on our lastlegs or anything. It is a very sapping environment to play in, withthe heat and the conditions, and it can be tiring, but coming into theTest, we were pushing for a win, and we felt our momentum was good.”All of that momentum was squandered in the field, however, whereEngland dropped as many catches as they held, including Matt Prior’sreprieve of Jayawardene when he had added just five to his overnight149. “Catching can be a confidence thing, and it can filter throughthe team when a couple go down,” said Collingwood, but he reiteratedEngland could have no excuses. “Sometimes you can benefit from thesekind of lows, they can make you stronger and better in the future. Butreally I wish we hadn’t had a day like this.”It’s as damaging as you want to make it,” he added. “These days hurt,they really do, but we have to look at the bigger picture in the end.I still think we’re moving in the right direction with the players weare bringing through.” That’s not, however, what the world rankingswill be saying next week. England’s most desperate performance of theyear has confirmed what we’ve expected for a long time now. They’veblown all their winnings of the last two years, and now it’s time tostart back at the beginnings.
