Martyn Moxon is backing England to make it a 3-0 Test series whitewash against Sri Lanka in Colombo, starting on Friday.
Yorkshire’s Director of Cricket has hailed England’s performances across all formats having completed a clean sweep of red and white ball successes.
The Test series may be won, but with Joe Root targeting top spot in the ICC’s rankings, this fixture is a hugely important one.
“Once the series has been won, the challenge of winning the last Test is always a big one,” said Moxon. “A lot of times, it’s ‘After the Lord Mayor’s Show’ in some respects. But I’m sure they’re going to be determined to come back home 3-0, and I don’t see any reason why they can’t.
“Sri Lanka are in a bit of a transitional period – they’ve lost some world-class players and aren’t the force they were. But, having said that, for England to win in all three formats is a great achievement. All credit to them.”
Moxon believes the way England have played in sub-continental conditions would have troubled a better side than Sri Lanka, an India for example, who currently sit top of the world rankings.
“We’ve got a good team with all bases covered if the players perform to their capability,” he continued.
“Jennings got his hundred and Burns, although he hasn’t got a big score, has shown he’s capable at the top of the order.
“The three spinners have done their job. We haven’t needed any seamers, but we know we have ones available who are very capable at Test level.
“If we can nail the top three – there’s still a question mark at three – we will be very strong.
“The way they play, they’ve found a good balance between defence and attack. There’s been periods where batsmen have had to dig in, which they’ve been willing to do, and others when they’ve attacked.
“The innovations with the sweeps and the reverse sweeps have been profitable. I heard some analysis had been done and it’s a record for sweep shots played, the runs scored and the dismissals.
“I think it’s been a fascinating series.”
