England ended 2018 in the best possible fashion as they dismantled Sri Lanka to claim a deserved 3-0 series whitewash. In eight months time, Joe Root and his players will be lining up to take on Australia in the Ashes.
If any of you sand-paper-loving Aussies are reading this. Here’s how the soon-to-be Ashes holders faired in Sri Lanka.
England
Burns – A decent start to Burns’ England career at the top of the order. Despite not producing spectacular performances, he did look comfortable at the crease. 4/10
Jennings – A big knock from the under-pressure opener at the start of the series, but his runs dwindled out after that. However, he did take some valuable catches at short leg. 6.5/10
Root – He scored arguably the best innings of the series in the second Test. England were forward-thinking, fearless and busy at the crease. A lot of that stems from the baby-faced Yorkshireman. Not forgetting his energetic captaincy. From brilliant field placings to rotating his bowlers in the right manner. What a series for Roooooot! 9/10
Stokes – Played his absolute heart out throughout the series. He can literally do everything. 7/10
Buttler – At the rate Buttler is going, National Selector Ed Smith will let him sleep with his wife! 8/10
Moeen Ali – From the Moeen that was battered and bruised from previous overseas tours, he certainly is a much-changed and a more mature player now. 8/10
Foakes – Well, who would have thought it?! A century on debut, top-class wicket-keeping and England’s highest run-scorer. But, without a doubt, his best achievement was p***ing off Bairstow! 9/10
Curran – England are going to have some real problems down the line. The way Curran is playing, he can get into the side with his batting alone. 6/10
Rashid – Another stroke of genius from Ed Smith. 7/10
Leach – The pick of the three spinners. In the first two games, Leach bowled two of the best deliveries in the series. He took the same amount of wickets as Moeen, but his ability to hold an end stood out. 8/10
Anderson – He’s Jimmy Anderson and he gets whatever rating he wants! 10/10
Others
Bairstow – 9/10
Broad – 4/10
Sri Lanka
Karunaratne – One of a few Sri Lankan batsman who was consistent during this series. 7/10
K. Silva – Dropped for the final match for a reason. 2/10
D. de Silva – Contributed with a couple of decent knocks, but ultimately he couldn’t produce that big knock his team were craving for. 4/10
K. Mendi s- Another below standard Test player. One innings out of six where Mendis produced the goods. 3/10
Matthews – At the start of the series, Matthews showed why the Sri Lankan board shouldn’t have sacked him as captain. In the last game, he showed them why they did sack him. 6/10
Dickwella – As a senior player now, Dickwella’s attack-minded approach needs to produce something. At this moment, he is just proving to be a poor man’s Gary Ballance. And nobody wants to be that. Not even Gary himself! 2/10
D. Perera – Two five-wicket hauls and one four-fer from Sri Lanka’s bowling all-rounder. The highest wicket-taker in the series did his job. Unfortunately, a large proportion of his teammates didn’t read the same memo. 8/10
R. Silva – Came into the side following Chandimal’s injury. Truthfully, he should have started the series, impressive application lower down the order. 6.5/10
Dananjaya – After playing the first two games, Sri Lanka’s chucker, version two, went to Australia to have his action tested. Surprise f***ing surprise! 0/10
Lakmal – Only four wickets in the series, tbh, it wasn’t a series for the seam bowlers. 4/10
Pushpakumara – Made decent contributions, but nothing too threatening. 6/10
Others
Gunathilaka – 3/10
Chandimal – 3/10
Herath – 5/10
Sandakan – 6/10
