Test previews / Michael Vaughan / 22 March 2012 /

England have a great chance to make up for their failures in the UAE against Pakistan by prevailing in one of the toughests tests cricket has to offer - winning in Sri Lanka. But they have the bowlers to do it, says Michael Vaughan.

England were humiliated in the Test series against Pakistan. They went in as favourites and got whitewashed. But this isn't a team who will let defeat dent their confidence. They'll see this challenge as an opportunity to set the record straight and prove they can win a Test series outside England. After all, they're not the number one ranked team in the world for nothing.

The exclusion of Eoin Morgan from the squad is no great surprise. He's had plenty of chances in the longest format and hasn't really taken them so it's now up to him to go away, work on his game, learn from his mistakes and play well enough for Middlesex to win a recall to the Test team. James Tredwell's inclusion isn't a massive shock either. England are likely to play two spinners and, if either Graeme Swann or Monty Panesar gets injured in the build-up to one of the matches, Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower will be counting on the Kent man to come in and do a job.

Those who read my Betting.betfair column regularly will know that I always look at which team has the better bowlers when assessing who has the best chance of winning a Test match or series. This time it's no different. Sri Lanka's bowlers will obviously be more familiar with the conditions but I don't see who's going to come in and take the five-wicket hauls that you need to win a Test match. There's no Lasith Malinga to make the most of the new ball or Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl all day and put batsmen under pressure with virtually every delivery. Suraj Randiv and Rangana Herath are bowlers England won't have seen too much of but I can't see them ripping through the batting order in the same way that the Pakistan twirlers did.

I like England's bowling line-up a lot, mostly because of the variety it contains. Jimmy Anderson swings it both ways, Stuart Broad can bowl quickly and aggressively, Swann has been the best spinner around for a while now and Panesar bowled really well in the UAE after a long spell in the international wilderness. Then there's Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan, Samit Patel and the aforementioned Tredwell. They all offer something a little different which is exactly what a captain wants from his bowling attack.

As with the Pakistan series, I think the first session of the first day will be crucial. In these short series with just two or three matches the team who gets off to the better start is normally the one who goes on to win. But because we can't see into the future with that degree of accuracy we have to look at who has the more balanced side to deal with the challenges ahead. It's England who get the nod. The wicket at Galle tends to be a result pitch and I think England can win there and hold out for a draw in the Second Test to secure the series win.

Alastair Cook is a run-machine these days. He may have struggled in the Tests against the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman but he tore those two, and anyone else who came in to bowl, apart in the ODIs. He can score runs on low, slow pitches and he can certainly play spin. He's the favourite to be England's top bat in the series but that's for a reason.

2 pts Back England to win the Series 1-0 @ [4.2]
2 pts Back Alastair Cook to be England series top batsman @ [3.9]

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