England must try Tudor

Alex Tudor won't want to sit out another Test

By Oliver Brett BBC Sport Online

If England choose the same 11 players to represent their country in the Edgbaston Test against Sri Lanka, then they cannot complain if spectators shun the match in droves.

But the dangerous truth is that the selectors could easily name the same team, and then sit back, cross their fingers and hope things come good.

Dominic Cork - who was plainly overbowled on the second day - could soon be back to 100% following his hamstring niggle.

And unless one of the contracted players, such as Matthew Hoggard, is dropped, the chances are fairly high that the same seven batsmen and four seamers will be used.

John Crawley may not be required by England

England were rightly castigated for not playing their top spinner, Ashley Giles, at Lord's.

The pitch was so true and dry, and - even just for variety's sake - a slow bowler would have been a handy addition.

When Michael Vaughan came on to bowl his very occasional off-spinners late on the first day, he immediately trapped Marvan Atapattu lbw.

Or he seemed to have done so, but the decision - as many did throughout the match - went against the bowler.

But that was at Lord's. Edgbaston, dry or damp, May or July, is a wicket on which seamers consistently prosper.

And unlike Lord's - where fine weather dominated in the run-up to the game - plenty of rain is forecast in the week leading up to the second Test.

Tudor is a handy performer with the bat

England should, however, find a place for Alex Tudor, and the best way to do that would be by dropping John Crawley.

Their batting would not be severely diminished. Crawley looked unduly nervous in both innings at Lord's and seemed to be at fault for the Alec Stewart run-out.

And having five seamers in the side, England could give short bursts to the likes of Andy Caddick and Andrew Flintoff, and refrain from over-bowling Cork and Hoggard.

It would allow Stewart and Flintoff to bat up the order at six and seven respectively - Flintoff, after all, was a more than competent number six in New Zealand.

And eight and nine would be more than adequately staffed by Cork and Tudor, who possess more than a modicum of acumen in the batting department.

The case for Tudor is extremely strong.

Dilhara Fernando could be back for Sri Lanka

He had a fine Test against the Australians at Trent Bridge last year, is 100% fit and also benefited hugely from the tough regime experienced by the England Academy in Adelaide during the winter.

As for Sri Lanka, their batting will be unchanged, but they will hope to give their higly-regarded seamer Dilhara Fernando a Test, assuming he comes through the tour match at Cardiff.

They cannot risk the great Muttiah Muralitharan.

And that means that unless they opt for another specialist spinner, they must choose who to select out of Charitha Buddika and Ruchira Perera - he of the suspect action.

By not fielding Perera, Sri Lanka would avoid the embarrassment of having him reported by the ICC a second time, as would surely happen.

Now might be the best time for Perera to get the specialist attention he needs on his action.

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Possible England team for Edgbaston, 2nd Test (starts 30 May): N Hussain (capt), A J Stewart (wkt), M E Trescothick, M P Vaughan, M A Butcher, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, A Flintoff, D G Cork, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard

Possible Sri Lanka team: S T Jayasuriya (capt), K C Sangakkara (wkt), M S Atapattu, D P M D Jayawardene, P A de Silva, H P Tillakaratne, R P Arnold, W P U J C Vaas, C R D Fernando, D N T Zoysa, T C Buddika.