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Third Test Preview - Grame Swann can light up the series

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Paul Moon takes a contrasting view to Betting.Betfair's Andrew Hughes in his profile of Graeme Swann.

The third Test in Galle which starts on 18 December 2007 will be the first since the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami devastated the southern Sri Lankan coast. It will be a very emotional moment! Unfortunately the ground is worse than a building site and poor weather is making matters worse. Head groundsman Jayanana Warnaweera has promised the game will go ahead no matter what because people are absolutely desperate for this match to take place. Let us hope the weather relents.

The new wicket has black clay laid on local red earth to make the Test wicket, with grass seed imported from various parts of the Asia-Pacific rim. This complex recipe is likely to keep this an archetypal Sri Lankan slow, low surface which takes spin so a clear opportunity to play two spinners.

The reports coming out of the England camp are very disturbing. Moores has said that we have another three or four days to get our plans together. Does that mean we have not had a plan prior to the series? He also said if we play good cricket we can win the game. For goodness sake! There's more! He said he is pleased with the England batsmen (top score is a turgid 87 so far) and that we are gaining momentum and we go there quite confident. What language is that, what does quite confident mean? At the current rate of momentum it would take us until 2089 to win a Test match there.

There was no mention of bowling out Sri Lanka twice, something we have failed to do in this series. If we are to win the match and draw the series this should be the number one priority so Graeme Swann must play. There is no other plan, we have been sterile and we need to transform things! He should play with Panesar and we should not consider Hoggard because of his injured back. We cannot risk him breaking down and losing a bowler.

I am surprised that we have not seen the aggressive Swann already. He is an off-spinner who can turn the ball prodigiously and he has impressed all observers with his optimistic attitude and energy. He still has the potential to become a legitimate allrounder, so why was he brought back in the first place if he is not going to play? Some say that he should play ahead of Monty (our leading wicket taker) because of his batting and our long tail but I disagree, they should both play in tandem with the field set on attack mode as soon as an opportunity arose.

I think there is enough variety with the two spinners to warrant playing both. Besides, it is the only move in town, more of the same is not an option. I would rather lose two nil whilst trying to win the match than bore out and still lose the series!

England are a whopping [6.6] with Betfair with Sri Lanka [2.98]. The draw is [1.81]. In normal circumstances you always look for the value in a trade but I have seen nothing yet from Peter Moores to suggest a more aggressive approach, my guess is they will meander until they find another low-key performance. I am trying to think of any positives to come out from the tour. Has anyone seen something that I may have missed?

Some real negatives for me are the lack of conversion to big scores because we simply do not have the hunger and desire to tough it out. This applies to all the batters but especially Pietersen because of his latent talent. England batsmen have registered 10 scores of more than 50 in the two Tests but none has the determination to score a ton. A sad indictment!

The seamers have not shown enough variations on these slow pitches (Hoggard excepted). Anderson and Harmison have taken 5 wickets between them for nearly 300 runs. I would drop Harmison and send him to Coventry for six months and see what bottle he has (something I have always doubted).

Bopara has not stepped up to the plate. Is he a Test player, should he have played?

Typically Vaughan was talking about the draw in the second Test as if it was a win, I find that lamentable and do not forget this is not a great Sri Lankan side! We need a captain to tell it how it is.

I have seen little evidence so far of the coaching skills of Peter Moores, this has not been a great tour!

Sigh...

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