Sri Lanka v England: Tourists risk being undercooked for first Test after insufficient warm-up matches

As the oft-quoted adage goes if you fail to prepare then you are preparing to fail.

Due to circumstances largely beyond their control there is a sense England are heading into Tuesday’s first Test against Sri Lanka undercooked and at risk of flaunting the Scouts’ most cherished motto.

A two-day game against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI, in which England used 14 players and three wicket-keepers, did go ahead earlier this week. But left-arm spinner Jack Leach and exciting fast bowler Olly Stone did not feature at all, while Keaton Jennings and Joe Denly – top-order batsmen in need of practise – faced just 86 balls between them.

The first day of the second warm-up was washed out today, leaving a ramshackle 50-over contest resembling a club cricket match slated for tomorrow morning – and that’s only if the rain stays away.

Two days and a possible third in a different format can hardly be considered to constitute thorough preparation for the difficult series ahead.

The rain of Sri Lanka’s monsoon season has dogged the tourists ever since they arrived a month ago. Of the nine fixtures scheduled so far, only a solitary day has not been in some way affected by the weather, with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method getting a good airing across the one-day international series, which England won 3-1.

England themselves cannot be blamed for the weather. They play the fixtures which both teams’ boards agree on based on the schedule set out in the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme.

Amid much rain and criticism two weeks ago, the England and Wales Cricket Board explained that they had “very little wriggle room” in their packed calendar, forcing them to head to Sri Lanka in a period which the Department of Meteorology in the country says is defined by “strong winds, widespread rain [which] sometimes leads to floods and landslides”. Hardly cricket weather.

But aside from the issue of the weather – so often a talking point in cricket – there is a wider point to be made.

England have endured a poor run away from home recently, losing their last three overseas Test series against New Zealand, Australia and India. They have lost 10 of their last 13 matches, with the other three being draws. Their last success away from home in the five-day format came way back on 24 October 2016 against Bangladesh.

The coaching staff and players are, of course, well aware of their previous failings.

“Obviously our away record has not been what we’d like over the last couple of years,” captain Joe Root said earlier this week. “But it’s an opportunity for this group of players to turn that around. We shouldn’t be scared or intimidated by the surfaces or by the make-up of their team. But we’ve been away from home for a number of times now and struggled, so whether we have to find a different formula we’ll just have to wait and see.”

They certainly haven’t used a different formula in their build-up to the first Test in Galle next week. If they are to rectify a miserable recent away record, then it will be because of factors besides quality, competitive pre-series fixtures.

Acclimatising to conditions, becoming familiar with your surroundings and team mates and getting into a rhythm are important things.

Following Alastair Cook’s retirement and Jonny Baristow’s injury, Rory Burns and Denly could both make their debuts in Galle. Besides Denly’s match-winning spell in the sole Twenty20, neither has been afforded much of a chance to feel their way in.

England are not alone in apparently under-appreciating warm-up games – India notably came into this year’s series against England on the back of just one three-day game against Essex – but a failing is still a failing, even if it is a collective one.

As overseas tours go Sri Lanka is some way down the importance scale, below the Ashes, India and South Africa, but England’s current preparation is far from an outlier.

Their build-up to the disastrous 4-0 defeat in the most recent Ashes came after three warm-up matches, in which the quality of the opposition was questioned, with the hosts not wanting to offer their bitter rivals an advantage. After their Ashes thrashing England played a few two-day matches with a New Zealand XI before stumbling into a comprehensive defeat by an innings and 49 runs against the Blackcaps five days later.

Root has spoken at length about “finding a different formula” to win away from home. In Sri Lanka, that could well mean playing three spinners – Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and one of Denly and Leach.

If it is to be Leach then the Somerset left-armer could begin his second ever Test match without having bowled outside of the nets for over a month. While in his own words he’s “not a big fan of warm-up games”, it could prove an aspect unwisely overlooked by England.