Barely half an hour into his new life as a Test captain, Ollie Pope must have wondered what all the fuss was about.
Sri Lanka were six for three on the first morning of the first Test, apparently headed for humiliation. Looking down from the dressing-room balcony, Ben Stokes may even have felt a little redundant.
Instead, seventies from Dhananjaya de Silva, the tourists’ captain, and Milan Rathnayake, their debutant seamer, gave England’s stand-in skipper something to think about, and good value for a crowd craving a contest almost as much as a home win.
An eventual total of 236, with three wickets each for Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir, represented a spirited recovery.
But it was still advantage England after de Silva had chosen to make first use of a slow pitch showing occasional signs of uneven bounce – not least when an off-break from Bashir failed to get above shin height, trapping Dinesh Chandimal just before lunch.
With Ben Stokes injured, Ollie Pope captained England in 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 maiden left the tourists in a potentially perilous position after four overs
At stumps, England’s new opening pair of Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence – lucky not be run out for two on his return to the Test side when Angelo Mathews’s shy missed from midwicket – had reached 22 without loss before bad light intervened at 6pm.
But this was not quite the cakewalk that had seemed likely after the initial exchanges. And it was confirmation of the pre-series hunch that, overall, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up would offer more resistance than West Indies, who couldn’t reach 200 in four of their six innings en route to last month’s 3-0 defeat.
Mainly, this was a subdued day, at a time when Test cricket is striving for the opposite effect. Manchester’s skies were slate-grey, as if painted by Lowry, and a stiff cross-breeze never relented, occasionally stopping the bowlers in their run-up.
A crowd of 14,500 was roughly half as many as watched the Sunday’s final of the men’s Hundred at Lord’s. The giant party stand, so often the barometer of Old Trafford’s mood, contained too many empty seats. Spectators watching from their balconies at the in-ground Hilton Hotel huddled under duvets.
The morning had begun with a poignant tribute to the former England batsman and assistant coach Graham Thorpe, who took his own life earlier this month, and was celebrated by a touching montage on the big screen and a minute’s heartfelt applause.
For a while, England seemed to run with the emotion. Gus Atkinson had Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind as he made a mess of a pull, before Woakes induced a rash drive at an outswinger from Nishan Madushka, then nipped one back to remove Mathews, offering no shot, for a duck.
Sri Lanka battled back from the brink with Dhananjaya De Silva hitting 74 from 84 balls
England wrestled back control after tea with Shoaib Bashir dismissing De Silva
But the day’s most thrilling moment was provided, not for the first time, by Mark Wood. His loosener – a 95mph brute –dumped Chandimal on his backside, as if continuing the misery inflicted on West Indies.
His seventh ball, scarcely less menacing at 93mph, crashed into the right glove of Kusal Mendis and looped to Harry Brook at second slip. On current form, Wood deserves a health warning: you face him at your peril.
From 40 for four, Sri Lanka might have crumbled. And when Prabath Jayasuriya edged Atkinson two balls after he had been bounced out by a no-ball called because the over had already contained two above shoulder height, it was 113 for seven.
Dhananjaya, though, got stuck in, surviving a stumping chance to Jamie Smith off Bashir on 65 to add 63 with Rathnayake, before turning Bashir into the hands of Lawrence at leg slip nine runs later.
Rathnayake himself got to 72, the highest score at No 9 by a Test debutant, before he too fell to Bashir, trying and failing to clear Woakes at mid-on. Both men walked off to a generous ovation.
It was during Sri Lanka’s mini-revival that Pope had to earn his corn. Just as Stokes had done against the West Indian lower order at Trent Bridge, he opted for a form of bodyline – a reminder that he is unlikely to stray far from the template while Stokes’s hamstring mends.
And just as England struggled to dislodge Joshua Da Silva and Shamar Joseph that afternoon in Nottingham, now Dhananjaya and Rathnayake dealt easily with the occasional discomfort inflicted by Atkinson and Wood.
But Pope, who would have bowled had he won the toss, should have been happy enough on a day when only Matthew Potts – back in the side after a year’s absence – struggled for rhythm.
Debutant Milan Rathnayake added a first-class career-best 72 to take Sri Lanka to a respectable 236
England managed 22 with the bat before bad light brought an end to play
If it frustrated England that the floodlit gloom meant Pope was unable to turn to his fast bowlers late on, then it at least allowed Bashir to bowl a long and tidy spell.
And while the forecast is unpromising, England’s rate of progress ought to allow them enough time to impose themselves in the days ahead.
