England out to banish memories of Headingley 2014

This time two years ago the England Test team’s mood was a very different colour to how it is today. There are similarities - they still wear white and they are on the verge of another short home series against Sri Lanka - but that is about it.

Now, Ashes holders again, they are basking in the healthy glow of a sun-lit Test series win in South Africa, the top team in the world when Trevor Bayliss and his squad rocked up. Then, England had just returned from their horror winter tour in Australia where they were battered from Adelaide to Brisbane and back in losing the Test series 5-0. Andy Flower stood down following the humiliation, Peter Moores took over.

Still bruised from their winter woes, England faced up to what on paper looked like a summer full of the possibilities of restoration, starting with two Tests against Sri Lanka, poor tourists at the best of times, but in an early English summer, surely ideal fodder for a team hungry for some success. Not so.

The first Test was at Lord’s and England started in fine fashion, making nearly 600, Joe Root with a double ton. But centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews kept the Sri Lankans in the game. It came down to day five: the tourists needed a nominal 390, England 10 wickets. Sri Lanka, nine down, dug in magnificently and despite some late, final-over drama - an lbw verdict given to Stuart Broad but overturned on review, a last ball edge falling just short of slip - escaped London with a draw.

It gave the tourists heart heading to Headingley, venue for this week’s first Investec Test. Sangakkara, now retired from international duty, picks up the tale. “We were a bit behind the game on first innings,” the batsman says, “but strangely enough once we started the second innings - I think we were 100 runs behind - all the chat in the dressing room was let’s get to 200 in front if we can and then we’ve got a great chance of winning this Test. There was a bit in it for the seamers, the wicket was starting to turn.

“For some strange reason in the past if we were that far behind [on first innings] in England you might be thinking how tough it is to get out of a match and here we were talking about let’s go out and try and win it. Everyone was motivated individually and as a team to go out and do just that.

“We got to 300 in front and there was almost an inevitability that we would win that game. Then [Dhammika] Prasad came in at the end of day four and broke the game open with a four-wicket burst [England were 57 for 5 overnight].”

The following day, however, provided barely imaginable drama, much like the first Test. England dragged the game out in an atmosphere that became increasingly tetchy between the two teams: Mo Ali made a 281-ball ton, the tail hung around. But when the ninth wicket fell with 60 minutes to go, the home side looked cooked. Jimmy Anderson came to the crease.

“We never expected Jimmy to come out and bat for almost an hour,” Sangakkara says. “And then he did get out - in the penultimate ball of the Test. It was two of the best Tests I’ve played. Far more interesting than T20s or ODIs that I’ve played. For us it was a great sigh of relief. We had competed and competed, been outplayed for large parts of those two Tests, but when it counted we really stood up. They are great memories.”

Not so for England. “It was a tough time to play,” Broad says. “It was quite an emotional series. It really hurt us a team to lose in our conditions. We know Sri Lanka play with a lot of pride and passion and they are always in the battle. And they beat us in that battle. There is a bit of revenge to be had. We need to make sure we use our conditions better than we did back then.”

Although Headingley 2014 was a happy time for Sangakkara and his former team-mates he hopes his countrymen use the recollections wisely. “Everyone thinks that when you have great memories of a place that it inspires people to play better,” he says. “I just think that those are memories of two years ago. Rather than be emotional about it the players should learn from it and convert that into good decision-making in the middle that makes them competitive long enough to get opportunities to win Test matches.”

Which is difficult when you set out to do it without Sangakkara himself and Mahela Jayawardene the backbone of that series win two years ago. So how will they cope? “They have got over the fact that we have retired. It’s been a long time,” says Sangakkara, who reveals, though, that he’s been in touch with the players, giving them advice.

“The side have no baggage with us, they are working hard in preparation for the series. They won’t expect the wickets to be as good as they were in 2014. Throughout last summer’s Ashes England would have learned that the greener the wickets, the better for England who have the best bowlers in the world at exploiting that. It’s going to be tough for Sri Lanka. I don’t expect them to perform miracles but just to try to compete and stay in the fight to be in a position maybe to win a Test.

“I’m not writing them off,” Sangakkara adds. “The real test will be for our batting and to get 350 plus which gives you a chance. The side is weighted towards our bowling. [The pressure will be on] the young batsmen - for example Kusal Mendis is 21. He’s going to be a very good player but coming to England and testing himself now against the best bowler in the world and the rest of that pace attack is going to be a very steep learning curve.

“So we have some inexperienced batsmen but we have the same openers as 2014 plus Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, so it’s going to be the first tough step in a journey that will probably last two years for us to rebuild. They have the potential, they have the talent. I just hope they have the temperament.”

Broad will be keen to test that as he and his team-mates are also motivated by the idea of completing a rare feat. They have seven out of nine Test trophies and play for the missing two - Sri Lanka and Pakistan - this summer. “To get all those would be a special achievement,” he says.

But you feel that making amends for Headingley 2014 will be drive enough. “As a unit we haven't bowled as well in Leeds as we could have done,” Broad adds. “Our Test record isn't as good as it should be given the amount of support we get and the amount of players we have who’ve played a lot of cricket there.”

A lot of cricket, indeed, but there is one Test that sticks in the memory for all the wrong reasons for England.