Timeless and Understated

The Galle rains - and some characteristically obdurate batting from the superb Alastair Cook - saved England from a 2-0 defeat, but the truth of the series - that England were more than a little outclassed - wasn't so easily obscured. Michael Vaughan, Peter Moores, and the rest of the 'Team England' hierarchy have a lot of thinking to do before New Zealand.

The player who impressed me the most in the last two Tests was the timeless and understated Chaminda Vaas. A couple of games after his obituaries were being written he was slicing through England with a perceptive combination of low pace, conventional swing and the most finely adjusted line to left and right-handers this side of Glenn McGrath's retirement villa.

Vaas, 33, should now grace Test cricket for a while longer. And, let's face it, if you played in the same side as the great Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, wouldn't you fancy taking the new ball?