UFO Info Week-End

By this time the players on the England dressing-room balcony were gesturing

By this time, the players on the England dressing-room balcony were gesturing that the ball had not carried.Suddenly, with fielders and batsmen milling around as if waiting to vote, De Silva reached for his walkie-talkie to contact the third umpire, B C Cooray. A minute later, he was telling Hussain to resume his innings.The version according to the match referee, Hanumant Singh, was that De Silva, unsure of the catch, had asked Orchard’s opinion, but had misunderstood the reply.”Umpire Orchard, when asked about the catch said: ‘You’d better refer it’,” revealed Hanumant at tea “De Silva misheard him and gave Hussain out. At that point, Orchard intervened to tell him that was not what he’d meant. It was then that it was referred to the third umpire, who ruled the catch invalid.”It is just about possible that a gruff South African accent, well known for stretching and strangling vowels, could have been misinterpreted, but it’s unlikely. Indeed, Sri Lanka’s version of events was different, with them claiming that De Silva gave it out because Orchard had upheld the catch.

Their explanation of why it was overturned is hazy, however, and there was talk that it was the reaction from the England dressing-room that had made De Silva have second thoughts.The episode did not benefit England by much and only 10 runs had been added when Hussain mishit a drive off Hettiarachchi to short-extra cover. It was the shot of a man impeded from playing his normal game, but who was too proud to bat down the order.Hussain, who went into this game carrying a tweaked left groin, hurt his right thigh in the field on Thursday. Instead of taking the sensible option and batting down the order, he went for the heroic route and batted at No 3 His first sweep shot revealed the folly of his ways. Unable to run with confidence, he called for a runner.At the end of play the England physiotherapist Dean Conway revealed that Hussain was unlikely to field again but would bat if required in the second innings. The prognosis is that it is a 10-day injury and that Hussain almost certainly misses the one-day series which begins next week. Michael Vaughan has been called up as cover.If missing the one-dayers is a blessing in disguise for the exhausted England captain, the immediate gloom of yesterday’s set-back was lifted by Thorpe, whose batting in the last two Tests has been a class above any of his team-mates. Until Thorpe applied his mastery, England, having slipped to 91 for 4, could see this Test sliding from their grasp.

Two and a half hours later, the outlook had brightened as they finished the day 66 runs behind.It took England less than 10 overs – and 13 deliveries with the second new ball – to end Sri Lanka’s innings. Chaminda Vaas provided the only resistance with 19 but he was left unbeaten as Robert Croft, Darren Gough and Andy Caddick took a wicket apiece to wrap up the innings.As he did in Kandy, Thorpe utilised a stop-start approach to his batting, blazing away at the start of his innings, especially against the pace bowlers, before becoming more circumspect after reaching 30. Coming in at the fall of Marcus Trescothick’s wicket, Thorpe was given solid support by Vaughan, who, after a 30-day absence from batting in the middle, needed a chaperone with a touch of class. Looking ring rusty to begin with, Vaughan soon realised his task was to support Thorpe.

A tall man, he used his reach to negate the vast spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and the less dramatic turn of the stockier Hettiarachchi. Leaving the big shots to Thorpe for almost an hour, he suddenly swept Hettiarachchi square for four. Later he played the shot again, though most of the time he dealt in singles, finishing the day with one run less than Graeme Hick scored in four innings.On the bad-luck front few could have been dismissed as unfortunately as Trescothick. The left-hander was playing solidly when he was removed by a freak catch. If it is unusual for a full-blooded slog off a spinner to be held by short-leg, it is even rarer to see the shot lodge in the folds of his shirt and stay there.