The wicket at the Sinhalese Sports Club is normally a result wicket so it will be the team which plays and handles the pressure best that will probably come out victorious.”Though he ended the second Test with a sore back, England expect Andrew Flintoff to be fit, so the last fast-bowling spot will be contested between James Kirtley, Richard Johnson and Matthew Hoggard.Gareth Batty and Chris Read helped save the second Test by batting for almost an hour and a half, but both will need to improve if they are to keep their places during England’s tour of the Caribbean in 2004. In Sri Lanka England captains have called wrongly on five consecutive occasions. They had the whole of the final day plus an entire session on the fourth day to chase the runs. It was a hell of a lot of time to get that amount of runs on that wicket England settled for a draw It was a staggering attitude.

We have played the more positive cricket between the two teams.”In reaction, Vaughan said: “If the Sri Lankan coach is happy with their performance then fine We were happy to get away with a draw. We fought really hard and it is pretty difficult to score 300 on the last day of a Test match against a spinner of the calibre of Muralitharan.”If England are to provide a repeat of their memorable victory here two years ago, one feels they need to win the toss They are due. “The pitch wasn’t turning viciously and I would have thought here was a chance to rewrite the record books. Such an attitude has ensured Vaughan’s side still have a chance of winning this series, but England’s tactics in Kandy have not gone down well with John Dyson, the Sri Lankan coach.”The English attitude surprised me, given that it was a very fast outfield and a very good wicket,” said the former Australian opener on England’s decision not to chase the 368 set by Sri Lanka.

Although he scored only one run in the first innings, his three-hour stay in the second was one of the main reasons why England hung on for a draw. Collingwood also batted for over three hours in Kandy and it is his ability to handle Muttiah Muralitharan which has excited the selectors.In each of the first two Tests England lost important tosses which meant the draw was almost the only positive result they could play for. He obviously missed the first game through illness and had an unfortunate dismissal in the practice match.”To a player who has averaged over 40 for England in the last two years this period will seem nothing more than a blip, but Hussain has been put under pressure by Collingwood’s encouraging displays during the last two Test matches.The Durham batsman owed his Test debut to the fact that Hussain picked up a virus on the morning of the first Test. “I always say to myself that I am one knock away from a hundred and this is all Nasser is. Indeed, since scoring 95 in the second Test against Bangladesh six weeks ago, the Essex batsman has had just three innings in which he has totalled 27 runs.”Nasser is playing OK but he probably needs more time in the middle,” said Vaughan.