Monty Must Use Team Think Tank

Of the Yorkshire opening batsmen to have captained England, Michael Vaughan is, by a country mile, the most optimistic. There was Sir Len Hutton, who, on the 1954-5 tour with victory in sight, famously sighed after his early dismissal in Adelaide, 'the buggers have done us again' even though Denis Compton had yet to take guard. A couple of decades later Geoffrey Boycott always insisted that we should add two wickets to the scoreboard to guard against any extravagant stroke-play.

Yet on the eve of the second Test in Colombo, which has become the fortress of Sri Lankan cricket, and with his best bowler, Matthew Hoggard, sidelined by injury, Vaughan remained defiantly upbeat (he was, of course, born on the other side of the Pennines).

'Of course they [the Sri Lankans] are beatable. It's been done before here,' he said, referring to England's remarkable Test victory in the third match of the 2001 series. 'There were some great pluses after Kandy. We just need to exploit their inexperience in this match. We showed that we can fight in the first Test, but sometimes fighting is not enough. You need expertise as well and I think we have enough expertise.'

You don't have to be a Tyke to offer some grumpy counterarguments. Since that remarkable match in Colombo in 2001 when 19 wickets fell on the third and final day, Sri Lanka have played 12 Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. They have won 10 of them, drawn one and lost just one (to Australia). In 2001, Murali curiously took just two wickets in the match, but in total he has taken 143 here - another record.

There are two other reasons to be cautious about England's chances and Aravinda de Silva has outlined them. They are Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.

Vaughan was right to highlight the inexperience of the Sri Lankan batting line-up. Now that Sanath Jayasuriya has retired it has a soft underbelly. The openers are relative novices and neither Chamara Silva nor Jehan Mubarak in the middle are awe-inspiring batsmen. The problem is getting to them.

Actually Sangakkara is not an awe-inspiring batsman to watch; he does not possess the innate grace of Jayawardene or the power of Jayasuriya. It's just that he doesn't get out; his recent figures are what inspire awe - he averages 152 since shedding the wicketkeeping gloves after Sri Lanka's tour of England - rather than the means he uses to acquire all those runs.

'You have to admire a guy at the top of his game,' said Vaughan. 'He's been playing in such a controlled fashion. We created a few snicks in Kandy and had a good lbw shout. We have to get him early. He's got to fail sometime and there is no reason why he can't fail this week. Of course we have studied him closely. But you don't want to over analyse things, either.'

Sangakkara's greatest asset is that he has such a strong mind and when in form the game seems so simple for him. 'Out in the middle I just try to watch the ball and make sure I'm balanced,' he says. 'Everything else is covered during the practice sessions.'

His feet, so nimble at the crease, remain firmly on the ground between knocks. 'There is pressure on me now because batting is my only discipline. That pressure has worked positively. Look at Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid; they have set the standards. I have a long way to go before I catch up with those guys.'

You would not think so reading the local press. Sangakkara is now rated number one in the world in those ICC rankings and that fact has been feted throughout Sri Lanka. I'm tempted by the Vaughan line. He's bound to fail soon.

Yesterday the England captain declined to let on which XI would be chosen for the second Test. Everyone in the party, except Hoggard, was available (so surely the logical choices were Ottis Gibson at eight and Andy Flower in the middle order). However, Vaughan's defence of Steve Harmison, who now attracts vitriol as swiftly as the Indian Cricket League attracts has-beens, was sufficiently spirited that we were left in little doubt that the Durham fast bowler - and England require him to be fast in this match - would be recalled.

'I've had some great days with Steve Harmison,' said Vaughan. 'Ask any player throughout the world who they don't want to face and, when he's on form, Steve's name always crops up.'

Most of England's recent victories have come when Harmison has combined successfully with Monty Panesar, who is certain to play today. In a sense Panesar is under more pressure than Harmison or any of the other bowlers out here. He has to operate as the solitary spinner in a country where in the past - even for England - the selection of two spinners has been the norm. And his opposite number is Murali.

Panesar did not disgrace himself in Kandy, but he did look as if he was under pressure when Sangakkara and Jayawardene were together. When any one else was at the crease I fancied him to take a wicket.

Panesar needs guidance. For a slow bowler, he does not have a fertile cricket brain. He should not fret about being more 'attacking', as some pundits glibly suggest he should be. When Sangakkara, for example, is on strike, there is only one place for Panesar to bowl: on a length outside his off-stump; and only one pace, his natural pace.

What Panesar can do, with hands-on guidance from his captain and the think tank off the field, is to be more innovative in his field placements. Sometimes this may require him to have fewer men around the bat, especially when the best two Sri Lankans are at the crease.

At Kandy, he did not bowl enough maidens. Watch Shane Warne and Murali when a partnership starts to develop and they aim to starve the batsmen of runs. Warne would retreat to bowling around the wicket to right-handers; Murali is quick to withdraw some of those close fielders.

Even though England are one down in the series, there will be times in Colombo when they have to show more patience and, to use Vaughan's phrase, 'more cleverness' than we witnessed in Sri Lanka's second innings in Kandy. And if they can get rid of Sangakkara and Jayawardene relatively cheaply ... well, Vaughan's optimism may be justified, after all.