On Day 2 of the third Test match against Sri Lanka, England bowler Chris Woakes switched to a spinner role. The Ollie Pope-led team was furious when the umpires asked the spinners to continue and made the seamers take a backswing due to poor light at Kennington Oval. Due to half-centuries scored by Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis, it gave Sri Lanka the opportunity to counterattack.
Olly Stone, a pacer, talked about how aggravating it was that there was nothing they could do about the restrictions. He said that even if the pacers were removed from the game, Sri Lanka was still able to finish strong and provide entertainment for the crowd.
Olly Stone continued, saying that although the players could see the ball, they respected the umpires’ decision to spare no cricketer.
“They are the guidelines, are they not? Those are unchangeable. It is no longer in our control. Obviously, we would have loved to have bowled seam there. Stone was cited as stating, “It’s just one of those things that’s frustrating but has to be done.”
I suppose everyone could see the ball. We want to play as long as we can as a team, but you have to follow the umpires’ decisions, therefore we were sadly unable to bowl seam. There has to be a limit, I suppose, and you don’t want to see anyone be harmed. Whether it’s with seam or spin, we’ll continue to entertain and advance the game,” he continued.
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Sri Lanka had 211/5 on board at the end of the day. After Day 2, they are behind by 114 runs, and they would like to close the gap on Day 3. Dhananjaya and Mendis will need to be instrumental in order to achieve this.
India
