England captain Andrew Strauss faces close scrutiny of his batting and leadership skills as he attempts to keep his spin-shattered team on top of the world Test rankings.
England, who toppled India from the mantle with a memorable 4-0 whitewash on seaming wickets at home last year, have come unstuck on the spinner-friendly tracks of Asia over the past three months.
The 75-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle on Thursday was England’s fourth consecutive loss, following the embarrassing 3-0 hammering by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman wrecked England in the UAE with a combined haul of 43 wickets in the series, while Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv grabbed 18 of the 20 wickets in Galle.
England are already assured of a bonus of $US175,000 from the International Cricket Council as the No.1 side on the cut-off date of April 1, but their future at the top remains uncertain.
Strauss’ men will slip to No.2 behind South Africa if they fail to win the second and final Test in Colombo from Tuesday and lose the series.
Rankings will change over the next 12 months, but a greater concern for the tourists is the form of their captain.
Strauss has now gone 23 innings without adding to his 19 Test centuries, averaging a poor 28.52, and has managed just one three-figure knock in his past 48 innings.
He made 26 and 27 in Galle, falling both times to Herath, but the left-hander was determined to change his — and the team’s — fortunes in the next Test in the Sri Lankan capital.
“I feel in good form, but you’re judged on your performances and I have not performed well enough,” the 35-year-old admitted.
“My job in the side is to score runs, the same as any other batsman, and I have not scored as many as I would have liked in the last 12 months or so.
“That’s very frustrating, but hopefully I will put it right next week.”
Strauss admitted his team’s inability to put runs on the board had proved costly, both against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“We have not got scores on the board,” he said.
“You’re not going to win too many Test matches if that’s the case.”
