After being subjected to biting early season conditions on their previous five Test tours of England, Sri Lanka could have been forgiven for believing that the UK in August might be a time of sunshine and warmth. Manchester had other ideas, however, with the opening day at Old Trafford featuring leaden skies, chill winds and spectators wrapped up in duvets on the balconies of the ground’s two adjoining hotels.
The tourists had also hoped for more than the one warm-up match they ended up with and when they stumbled to six for three inside the first half an hour and then 92 for six shortly after lunch, Ollie Pope’s first day as England’s stand-in captain looked a doozy. Bar losing a toss – and even then wanting to bowl first had he won it – nearly every move went Pope’s way, even if this was aided slightly by a couple of poor shots from Sri Lanka’s top order and the odd bit of capricious bounce from the surface.
