Barely half an hour into his new life as Test captain, Ollie Pope must have wondered what all the fuss was about.
Sri Lanka had scored six for three on the first morning of the first Test, seemingly heading for humiliation. Looking down from the dressing room balcony, Ben Stokes may have felt a little redundant.
Instead, seventies from Dhananjaya de Silva, the tourists’ captain, and Milan Rathnayake, their debutant, gave England’s stand-in captain something to think about and good value for a crowd craving a contest almost as much as a home win.
A final total of 236, with three wickets each for Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir, represented a spirited recovery.
But there was still an advantage for England after De Silva decided to take first advantage of a slow pitch that showed occasional signs of uneven bounce, most notably when a counter-attack from Bashir failed to clear shin height, trapping Dinesh Chandimal just before lunch.
With Ben Stokes injured, Ollie Pope captained England on day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka
An early flurry of wickets put the hosts firmly in the driving seat at Old Trafford
Chris Woakes’ double-wicket left the tourists in a potentially dangerous position after four overs.
At stumps, England’s new opening pair of Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence (who was lucky not to be out for two on his return to the Test team when Angelo Mathews’ timid shot missed from mid-wicket) had reached 22 for no loss before bad light intervened at 6:00 p.m.
But this was not as easy as it looked after the opening exchanges. And it was confirmation of the pre-series hunch that, on balance, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up would offer more resistance than the West Indies, who failed to reach 200 in four of their six innings en route to last month’s 3-0 defeat.
Overall, it was a quiet day, at a time when Test cricket is aiming for the opposite effect. The Manchester sky was slate grey, as painted by Lowry, and a stiff cross breeze never let up, occasionally stopping bowlers in their tracks.
A crowd of 14,500 was about half the number that attended Sunday’s men’s Hundred final at Lord’s. The huge party stand, so often the barometer of Old Trafford’s mood, had too many empty seats. Spectators watching from their balconies in the Hilton Hotel inside the ground huddled under duvets.
The morning began with an emotional tribute to former England batsman and assistant coach Graham Thorpe, who took his own life earlier this month, and was marked with an emotional montage on the big screen and a moving minute’s applause.
For a moment, England seemed to be carried away by the emotion. Gus Atkinson caught Dimuth Karunaratne behind as he made a bad pass, before Woakes drew a reckless shot from Nishan Madushka’s cross, then cut a pass to take out Mathews, who was unable to get a shot off and was left without the ball.
Sri Lanka bounced back from the brink with Dhananjaya De Silva scoring 74 off 84 balls
England regained control after tea with Shoaib Bashir dismissing De Silva
But the most exciting moment of the day was provided, and not for the first time, by Mark Wood. His loosener – a brute flying at 95mph – knocked Chandimal flat on his back, as if continuing the misery inflicted on the West Indies.
His seventh ball, barely less menacing at 93mph, crashed off the right glove of Kusal Mendis and went to Harry Brook at second slip. On current form, Wood deserves a health warning: if you face him, you do so at your own peril.
At 40 for four, Sri Lanka could have collapsed. And when Prabath Jayasuriya edged Atkinson two balls after he had been run out for a no-ball because the over had already had two over shoulder height, the score was 113 for seven.
However, Dhananjaya held firm, surviving a Jamie Smith chance off Bashir on 65 to add 63 with Rathnayake, before handing Bashir over to Lawrence at leg slip nine runs later.
Rathnayake himself reached 72, the highest score at No. 9 by a Test debutant, before he too fell to Bashir, trying unsuccessfully to edge Woakes out at midwicket. Both men departed to a generous ovation.
It was during Sri Lanka’s mini-renaissance that Pope had to earn his bread. Just as Stokes had done against the West Indies’ lower order at Trent Bridge, he opted for a body-line shape, a reminder that he is unlikely to stray too far from the model while Stokes’ hamstring recovers.
And just as England struggled to dislodge Joshua Da Silva and Shamar Joseph that afternoon in Nottingham, so now Dhananjaya and Rathnayake dealt with the occasional niggles inflicted by Atkinson and Wood with ease.
But Pope, who would have bowled had he won the toss, should have been fairly happy on a day when only Matthew Potts, back in the team after a year’s absence, struggled to find his rhythm.
Debutant Milan Rathnayake added a career-high first-class 72 to take Sri Lanka to a respectable 236.
England managed 22 with the bat before bad light brought the game to an end.
While England were frustrated that the dim light prevented Pope from being able to call upon his fast bowlers towards the end, it at least allowed Bashir to bowl a long, tidy spell.
And although the forecast is not very encouraging, England’s rate of progress should allow them enough time to impose themselves in the coming days.
