England’s transformation into one of the best outfits in ODI cricket has been phenomenal after the 2015 world cup. Under Eoin Morgan, they have the firepower to beat any opposition at the moment and their tour to Srilanka is just after a successful ODI and test series against India in the home summer.
The tour at the time of Monsoon may not help the situation for England to get accustomed some of the excellent spin bowling conditions in the subcontinent. Rain stopped play the first practice game during England’s innings around 35th over. Only Morgan and Root had the opportunity to bat. Roy and Bairstow couldn’t make use of the opportunity as well and the second game had been washed out.
The weather doesn’t look good throughout the series and England will have to prepare for the conditions and spinner in Srilanka. It may not be an ideal tour for the world cup preparation in 2019 June but can be useful in fine-tuning their skills against the spin bowling and deciding the individual roles in the team. The performances of individuals will also go in finding certain spots in the team which has high competition, especially in the all-rounder department.
England may have another reason to treat this tour as skill refining considering their poor performance against Kuldeep Yadav in England soil. Lakshan Sandakan will come into action in the entire series and it will be interesting to see how England players handle him. Akila Dananjaya will be another key spinner England will trust to do the damage.
The first ODI of the series is scheduled to play at Rangiri Dambulla Internation Stadium in Dambulla on 10th October.
