England's victory in the final ODI against Sri Lanka showed that their spluttering batting order is still missing a few parts. The pattern of England's innings here was familiar, writes Barney Ronay in the Observer: an expertly laid platform but no real launch, albeit on a difficult pitch that offered some uneven bounce.

England have recovered well to take this series, but the back half of the batting is a knot they must still unravel. Bell clearly has to come in early or not at all. Kieswetter would be a more intimidating presence at six, but a straight swap would leave Bell and Cook as too refined an opening pair. So the permutations flicker. Three stately Test-honed batsmen into one top six won't fit. And in the end – like the open stands at Old Trafford's Brian Statham end – something is simply going to have to go by the time England continue their own rebuild against India later in the summer.

Echoing a similar view in the Sunday Telegraph, Steve James writes that the pitch at Old Trafford was not the sort England needed.

Yes, even though they prevailed yesterday, England must improve in subcontinental conditions, but that has been the case for some considerable time. They will have plenty of opportunities this winter against India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

In the same newspaper, Simon Hughes writes that England are very good when the pitches have pace and bounce. They look vulnerable when they don’t.

In his column in the Mail on Sunday James Anderson lists three reasons why the series victory over Sri Lanka was particularly satisfying.

Alastair Cook, England's ODI captain, has come in for criticism for his style of play in the shorter format and some of that has been unfair, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday. He says he has the character to hit back with his performances on the field.

For the foreseeable future, Cook is here to stay, and it would not be in the England management's nature to jettison him for a long while yet. They genuinely believe, unlike a plethora of pundits, that he can lead them to sunny uplands.

Cook is so resolute that he might very well confound his critics, though he would never say so. He is not the only batsman who invites rumination. Jonathan Trott has been prolific,but in reaching double figures for the 10th consecutive time in Leeds, a run that has included six fifties, he was not busy enough. His overall strike- rate of almost 80 partly defies hiscritics, but he has to take a game by the scruff.

Steve James, in the Daily Telegraph, agrees Cook has the makings of a successful ODI captain.

James Anderson, in the Mail on Sunday, says any squabbles or differences between players on the field at an error or a dropped catch only show how determined England are to win.

In the Observer, Vic Marks says England must be prepared to adapt if Lord's provides a run-friendly pitch like Headingely did.

Alastair Cook takes over as England's ODI captain, knowing that if he succeeds the Test job could be his, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.

More than his change of style, Cook has a steely resolve which has been seen in the manner that he has dominated the Test arena in the past eight months after his very career was put in doubt. But combining the roles of opening batsman and captain will push him to the limits.

Cook might not be a flair player but he'll thrive on the challenge of captaincy, says Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail.

In the Guardian, however, Mike Selvey writes there must be doubts about whether Cook will be able to raise his game to the level required to succeed.

Cook and his team have several questions to answer and Lawrence Booth, in the Daily Mail, lists them out.

Simon Hughes assesses Cook's performance as captain in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, in the Daily Telegraph.

Sri Lanka failed to challenge England's new boy in charge in the first one-dayer, but not many conclusions should be drawn from a confused night like that, says David Hopps, writing in the Guardian.

Alastair Cook begins his stint as full time ODI captain when England face Sri Lanka but there's much he needs to do in order to improve his record as a limited-overs batsman, says Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.

The notion that an opener should anchor a one-day innings by batting through it probably still existed when he began his career but the widespread tactic now is to make hay during the power plays, a period English batsmen have been among the worst at exploiting. In any case, Jonathan Trott, England’s No3, has bagged the accumulator role, so Cook will have to play something other than Shylock if it is not to end badly.

In the Daily Mail, Stuart Broad reflects on the defeat to Sri Lanka in a game that marked the start of his Twenty20 captaincy.

Stuart Broad's former mentor, Frank Hayes, remembers how, as a 12-year-old, England's new Twenty20 captain looked 'a natural'. He writes in the Guardian that Broad be an excellent appointment for England, provided he is true to himself.

The thing I always liked about Stuart was the way he worked things out for himself. He didn't captain the first team because there was another guy at the school around the same time who was a natural leader of men. But he would always be thinking batsmen out.

In his column in the Daily Mail Broad writes it will be key to stay as calm as possible. You have to have a plan in your mind when you're in the field but you also have to be adaptable.

Players need to know their roles and what is expected of them. We were predictable in the last World Twenty20 but we were unstoppable. We were a well-oiled unit and that's what I want us to be again.

Andy Bull, in his blog in the Guardian, says Sanath Jayasuriya's farewell games against England are an example of politics mixing with sport and his selection is unacceptable because he is an elected representative of a government that stands accused of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

There is no convincing case to be made for recalling Jayasuriya. It has been two-and-a-half years since he scored a century in any kind of cricket, and the fact that he has said he will play only in the first of the five ODIs against England is testament in itself that he is not coming back because he has the interests of the team at heart.

But even if there was any cricketing logic to his inclusion, his selection would still be unacceptable. Jayasuriya is an elected representative of a government who, according to a United Nations report published this April, could be responsible for the deaths of 40,000 Tamil citizens during the final campaign of the civil war in late 2008 and early 2009.

On a different note, Mike Selvey, in the same newspaper, says England's selection for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka shows they have already started planning for the 2015 World Cup.

Batsmen of Eoin Morgan's class should be aiming at making big hundreds and not finishing with pretty half-centuries, writes David Lloyd in the Independent.

As for this summer, well at least he is on the inside looking out, rather than the other way around. But thanks to Alastair Cook and Bell continuing to bat like princes, Jonathan Trott making a double hundred in Cardiff and Kevin Pietersen rediscovering his silver, if not quite golden, touch, Morgan has spent many an hour admiring his team-mates from the dressing-room balcony.

In the same newspaper, Will Hawkes looks back at Sky Sports' coverage of another rain-hit day, where the combination of bad weather and a deluge of stats made for a dull viewing experience.

Nasser Hussain, in the Daily Mail, says Morgan is the right man for the job in England's middle order, and the right pick ahead of Ravi Bopara.

Simon Hughes, in the Daily Telegraph, says Ian Bell's third Test century in five innings confirms he is a batsman at the peak of his powers.

Also in the Daily Telegraph, Nick Hoult writes that the Stuart Broad's fortunes should take a turn for the better when he begins his role as England's Twenty20 captain.

Inclusiveness - as we are seeing in England with matches in Cardiff and Southampton - is a good thing but doesn't necessarily do a good job of selling the spectacle of Test cricket, writes Ian Herbert in the Independent.

Cardiff, Chester-le-Street, Southampton – all fine places and there's something commendably inclusive about stadiums which place you so close to the action that you hear third man cursing the bowler's length. But intimacy is not the same as intensity. Dress up your stadium however you want – and the Emirates Durham ICG certainly sounds less genteel than the Riverside, Chester-le-Street – but it doesn't give it the aura that sends statisticians rooting for the record sixth-wicket stand on that turf or makes it an opener's dream to see his name on the honour board/

Moving to Test cricket, the spectators at the Rose Bowl had spent a fair amount to watch the ongoing contest between England and Sri Lanka but the rain and some rigid rules combined to give them a raw deal, writes Patrick Collins in the Mail on Sunday.

Scyld Berry, in the Daily Telegraph, slams the decision to take the tea interval just as bright sunshine broke out on a rain-hit day at the Rose Bowl.

The England-Sri Lanka Test could produce the slowest over-rate in the 134-year history of Test cricket - another worrying sign for the five-day game. Berry has more in the Daily Telegraph.

Chanaka Welegedera has had Andrew Strauss in trouble this tour, and that's part of a trend, says David Lloyd in the Independent on Sunday.

It is the captain's fallibility against left-arm pace that has attracted attention, mainly because one of the best of that particular breed, India's Zaheer Khan, will be shortly heading this way.

Paul Hayward, in the Guardian, echoes those thoughts.

Steve James, in the Daily Telegraph, however, says that Strauss's problem may not be as clear cut as many think.

What's holding back Stuart Broad? In comparison to the other England seamers this series, Broad has looked bland. Simon Hughes tries to figure out why, in the Daily Telegraph.

James Anderson has a couple of problems with the DRS, and though he is in favour of the system he has some observations and suggestions to improve its implementation. Read on in the Daily Mail.

Rain played spoilsport on the opening day of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka, allowing only 38 overs to be bowled. But that was enough for Mike Selvey, who writes in the Guardian that the Rose Bowl appears to have all the attributes required of a viable Test ground.

Busiest of all the Hampshire stalwarts was Nigel Gray, 21 years with the club and now the head groundsman. Back and forth went the covers. The first time they were removed there was some consternation. The strip was barely distinguishable from the rest of the square it was so green. After the mower had set to work the shade lightened considerably but still there was no agonising for Strauss once he had won the toss.Gray's pitch was impressive. The club and the groundsman could have played safe by producing one of those "chief executive" wickets, guaranteed to last five days, low in bounce and a friend to the batsmen. The temptation is always there to provide a surface guaranteed to produce play – and income – on every day (weather permitting).

In the Independent, David Lloyd says Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove remained cheery despite the damp opening day.

For Bransgrove, though, the moment of truth (and, no doubt, of huge relief) occurred shortly beforehand when the Hampshire chairman stepped forward to clang the five-minute bell on the pavilion balcony. The sun was breaking through, players on both sides were completing their pre-match preparations and nothing now could stop a dream from being realised.

As Sri Lanka move towards the climax of the Test series against England, their interim coach, Stuart Law, is finding it ever more difficult to watch from the wings, says Simon Briggs, writing in the Daily Telegraph.

“It’s very painful,” he [Stuart Law] says. “You say your piece to the team, you try to instill confidence in them but I’d rather be able to show them — to say ‘watch me’. That’s what I tried to do as a senior player.” Evidently Law is still learning about the peculiar limbo occupied by the cricket coach — that unfortunate soul who must bowl every ball and play every shot from his vantage point on the pavilion balcony.

Ian Bell's contributions are often overlooked, but according to Andy Bull in the Guardian, no player does more than Bell to adapt his batting style to suit the needs of the England team.

England were 22 for three [in the second Test], Strauss, Pietersen and Jonathan Trott all undone inside the first eight overs. Bell announced his arrival by cracking his first ball away square for four, as if to say "what have you lot been doing out here?" From that point on England began to retake control of the innings. His batting was steadfast and, one early edge past slip aside, secure. His fifty took 108 balls, his strike rate a third of what it was in the second innings.

These innings were miniature masterclasses in how to adapt your batting to the needs of your team and the situation of the game

Andrew Strauss has big aspirations for his men but the Lord's Test exposed a lack of ruthlessness, says Stephen Brenkley, writing in the Independent.

It was not simply that England made elementary mistakes in all three departments of the game, errors that they had virtually erased in the four innings defeats they had inflicted in their previous five Tests. There was a perceived lack of ruthlessness about their push for victory. England left themselves 58 overs to dismiss Sri Lanka, having first put the match beyond their opponents ... But a team with genuine belief in being the best ever might have trusted its instincts a little more, offered Sri Lanka just a sniff of victory and then crushed them.

At Lord's, says Lawrence Booth, writing in the Daily Mail, England interspersed resilience with mediocrity.

This [Sri Lanka's long innings] had nothing to do with the sameness of the attack – unless you genuinely believe Jade Dernbach would have overcome a tedious Lord's track on his Test debut – and everything to do with bowlers who had a collective off-day. It happens. It just doesn't happen very often these days to England. Andrew Strauss made the very reasonable point that his bowlers aren't robots. But, amid all the talk about England's plans to ascend to the top of the Test rankings, isn't it equally reasonable to wonder why the tall trio all fell short?

Geoffrey Boycott, writing in the Daily Telegraph, says while England's batsmen continue to shine, there are question marks over the bowling attack.

Somebody has to decide what type of bowler he [Stuart Broad] is going to be for England. I believe he is not an express, wicket-taking bowler. He should be the seamer who pitches it up and bowls line and length at off stump. He should be the “go to” block-up-an-end-type bowler who cuts down opposition scoring and squeezes the pressure on them. Every good side have had a bowler of that type.

With James Anderson set to reclaim his spot in the XI for the third Test at the Rose Bowl, choosing between Stuart Broad and Steve Finn is not as clear cut a choice as might be assumed, says Mike Selvey, writing in the Guardian.

When it comes to the Rose Bowl, both Andy Flower and Strauss may take the view that Broad is only just returned to the side after two injuries during the winter and that as such he is feeling his way back into international cricket. There is also a case for saying his figures from this series do not offer a fair reflection of his bowling, where good fortune has not followed him. Finn, on the other hand, will be seen as an extremely promising work very much in progress. But it is a close run thing between the two.

Nasser Hussain, writing for the Daily Mail, says Matt Prior's tantrum that resulted in a shattered glass window at Lord's, is the kind of thing that happens all the time in cricket. It showed that Prior cared, so let us move on.

The dressing room is exactly the right place to take out your frustrations, whatever England are claiming about the manner in which the window was broken. We’ve all done it, and I should know. I remember kicking a fridge in Rawalpindi after Wasim Akram got me lbw in a one-dayer when the ball pitched miles outside leg.

Why has there been such a hoo-ha after Prior broke a single pane of glass in the Lord’s pavilion, following his sacrificial run-out on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka, asks Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph. Given the pressures on those at the top of the sport, it's no wonder manners sometimes slip.

The problem is that cricketers, as well as cricket itself, are held up – unjustly, as it happens – as the moral paragons of the sporting world. Oikish behaviour, however accidental, is widely frowned upon: breaking windows, other than with a cleanly struck six, is simply not cricket, as Prior well knows.

Everyone talks about Kevin Pietersen and his problems against slow left-armers but following Andrew Strauss' dismissal to Welegedara in the second innings at Lord's, Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail reckons the England captain has clearly got an issue against the left-arm quicks.Strauss has been dismissed by left-arm quicks 22 times including four times to Pakistan’s Mohammad Aamer last summer and Zaheer Khan — who did the same in 2007 — will be arriving soon with the India team.

The problem seems to be that Strauss has lost the whereabouts of his off-stump. That might sound like a strange thing to say about a top-class player, but skilful bowlers can move a batsman around the crease so that he loses his bearings. I’ve always believed cricket is all about angles and that is where Strauss is coming unstuck.

Meanwhile, in the Independent David Lloyd observes that despite the potential shown by Stuart Broad when Australia were beaten in 2009, two years on, we are still waiting for him to become the unstoppable force that he looked to become.

Not only waiting, but wondering – after watching him bowl in the first three Sri Lankan innings of this series – whether he should be an absolute shoo-in for Thursday week's third Test at the Rose Bowl.

Tillakaratne Dilshan puts bowlers in a quandary, observes Simon Hughes in the Daily Telegraph. Do they keep on probing his perceived weakness - aiming at what they like to call ’fifth stump’ (two stump widths outside off) and risk leaking runs? Or do they go for the more conservative approach and bowl straight, trying to frustrate him?

When you see a batsman with such minimal footwork and an inclination to play with an open face, you immediately think as a bowler you’ll be in business with a bit of outswing from a fullish length outside off stump. And you might be right.

The dilemma though is that Dilshan loves width. Where a man like Alastair Cook will look to leave as much off target as he can, Dilshan is thinking runs as soon as he picks up the line of a ball wide of the stumps. His eyes light up, his back lift increases and he shapes to lash it through the covers. And such is his incredible eye and bat speed, he frequently succeeds.

England's bowlers have struggled for rhythm at Lord's and David Lloyd believes that there is no doubt that they are missing James Anderson's expertise as a swing and seam bowler. After all, as Lloyd writes in the Independent Anderson is head and shoulders above Broad, Tremlett and Finn in terms of wickets in the bank, if not in inches on the tape measure.

But, almost as important, they also missed the wise words which he would have passed on to his less experienced colleagues from mid-off. There were times yesterday when all of the bowlers, but especially Finn, looked lonely out there. The Middlesex youngster just could not stop himself from drifting onto leg stump during one spell – and there were a lot of hands on hips in the slip cordon when what Finn really needed was an arm around his shoulder and a bit of advice from someone who knows what it is like to be a bowler struggling for rhythm.

England don't have a balanced attack, writes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail, but that doesn't mean we should fall into the trap of saying England chose the wrong side.

You could see by the way even Tillekeratne Dilshan was jumping around at times that they were not entirely comfortable with the bounce England's giant quicks were getting.They didn't get enough balls in the right place, but that doesn't mean the principle behind the selection was skewed.

A year ago no one was talking about Jade Dernbach, but suddenly people are saying England need a pitch-it-up swing bowler to dismiss the Sri Lankans. It's a reminder of the old cliche: you become a better player when you're not actually in the side.

Everyone connected with England these days is asked the Pietersen question, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent. While some say that everything will be all right and that one day soon he will go out there and prove the doubters wrong, the trouble is that few believe it any longer and fewer still would pick him in the England team.

The point of the non-expert witnesses is pretty persuasive. Neither of Pietersen's dismissals in the opening two Test matches of the summerspeak of a man who is within touching distance of his next double-century as the rest of the dressing room try desperately to make the case for him. Perhaps they are tryingto convince themselves.

Steve James looks at how Pietersen stirs emotion and opinion like no other modern-day cricketer. He is always a talking point, mostly the talking point, he writes in the Sunday Telegraph.

Indeed nobody in their right mind should consider omitting him for the third Test at Southampton, even if he were to fail a second time here at Lord’s. He’s failed twice this summer, that’s all.

And this is my hectoring moment: nobody please again use the line “if you take out his double-century at Adelaide...” in trying to emphasise Pietersen’s recent ineffectiveness. If memory serves correctly, those runs were not gifted during some boozy benefit match. They were scored in a live, hugely significant Ashes Test that England won. They count all right.

Mike Brearley in the Observer wishes Pietersen the speediest recovery of form in Test matches this summer and observes that while he can dominate against great bowlers like Shane Warne he can still look like a novice against ordinary ones.

No one would say that Pietersen is a saint. He clearly loves making money, he likes being a star, he may be at risk of being seduced by the limelight.

But through all this and underlying it all is a person who wants, as Andrew Strauss suggested (lightly) in his recent book, to be appreciated and loved. He may be awkward at times, a bit foolish perhaps, but basically he is a team-player with excellent skills and personal qualities.

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior scored his fifth test hundred on the second day of the Lord's Test against Sri Lanka. Watching him take the Sri Lanka attack apart, Steve James wonders why on earth can't Prior crack international one-day cricket. More from the Sunday Telegraph.

Here again on Saturday England’s wicketkeeper was taking a Test attack apart, making his second successive century at an excellent lick. He has made five Test centuries now, at an average of 44.58 and a strike rate of 65.21, which is higher than any of England's recognised batsmen.

And yet Prior the Test-dasher has made just three fifties in 62 ODI innings, and in 42 of them he has batted in the top three of the order, so it is not as if he has had limited opportunities.

David Lloyd in the Independent reckons that part of the problem, perhaps, is that England have spent a long time trying to convince themselves that their Test wicketkeeper should be their one-day international opener. Then, having come to the conclusion last year that they might do better by looking elsewhere, the selectors made an 11th-hour decision to recall Prior in the run-up to a World Cup that followed hard on the heels of an Ashes campaign.

Like England in general, Prior never quite knew what was coming next on the subcontinent. Six innings brought him a top score of 22 not out and a total of 78 runs but he batted here, there and just about everywhere, thanks to the short-lived experiment of opening with Kevin Pietersen

Still, the bottom line is that in 50-over cricket, after 68 matches in six and a half years, Prior has a best score of 87 and an average of just 24 – clearly that is not good enough to guarantee him a place in a one-day side that will now be led by Alastair Cook.

With all the pre-match talk centred around the height of England's pace attack and the potential for hostility and bounce, there was always a danger they might just lose their focus with the ball observes Jonathan Agnew on BBC Sport. And that is exactly what happened on the second day against Sri Lanka at Lord's.

It was a very inconsistent performance from the seamers, and Steven Finn in particular, who produced some uncharacteristically wayward deliveries. When you start firing the ball as wide as that down the leg side, there is a problem. You could see his wrist was tilting to the left and the ball was coming out of the side of the hand.

Once again, it was evident how much England are missing Paul Collingwood - they just lack someone who can come on and bowl a spell or two, offer a bit of variation and give the frontline attack a rest.

England have batted exceptionally well as a group for a long time now observes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail, but a couple of issues have crept in that they just need to be careful about.Sri Lanka will have noted that Strauss does have a slight problem with left-arm quicks while Trott's dismissal was the right-handed equivalent. As for Pietersen, his dismissal - reaching for a wide one - was the classic demise of a man out of form.

We all talk about Kevin Pietersen and left-arm spinners, but this was the 21st time in Tests Strauss has fallen to a left-arm seamer.

I would reiterate that England shouldn't make any rash decisions about Pietersen. He deserves to be shown the patience shown to others in the past: Ian Bell, Alastair Cook last summer, even Paul Collingwood in the winter.

And focussing on Pietersen, David Lloyd in the Independent writes that the time for talking in defence of Pietersen is over. Following his dismissal in the first innings at Lord's it is time that Pietersen himself had better take some positive action to convince the doubters – and they are growing in number by the innings – that all his best days are not behind him.

Yet it is not even a lack of runs that should be worrying England's selectors, it is the lack of certainty. Pietersen looked like that cat on the hot tin roof during his painful innings in Cardiff and, here, a hitherto plausible attempt to exude confidence was undone by the manner of his dismissal.

Kevin Pietersen has been dismissed 19 times by left-arm spinners in Test cricket - including falling to Rangana Herath in the first Test in Cardiff. And Sri Lanka will advertise the drama of one man's battle for self-belief by giving their spinner the ball as soon as Pietersen comes in at Lord's writes James Lawton in the Independent.

After the Cardiff denouement, Pietersen seemed almost to be in denial, slipping lightly over his problem while preferring to speak of the pleasure that fills the heart of every member of the England team when a colleague performs stupendously. It is a joy, Pietersen went on, enhanced by the certainty that if it is Trott or Cook today, there is every chance that it will be you tomorrow. Maybe it is so, maybe not.

In the Daily Telegraph, Michael Vaughan identifies the root of Pietersen's woes against left-arm spin - the positioning of his hips when he fronts up to play the ball.

[Pietersen] is not an orthodox technician but when he played in Bangladesh last year, and scored a Test match 99 against decent left-arm spinners on turning pitches, I felt he was aligning his hips to hit the ball through extra cover and mid-off rather than through midwicket, as he did in Cardiff. If you draw a line through the hips you want them going towards the non-striker at other end, but at the moment his hips are in line with midwicket. If your hips are not aligned straight you play more with your hands and your reach. The legs and feet follow so if the hips are in line everything else will go in the right direction.

England look like they are going to play three fast bowlers at Lord's writes Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail, but while Sri Lankan cricketers may not be used to the bounce and carry, England must avoid getting carried away with too much of the short stuff.

They're brought up on slow pitches, and Cardiff - though not the quickest pitch - was their first Test outside the Subcontinent for three years. Throw in the fact that their favoured format is 50-over cricket, where the short ball is used less, and England have an obvious advantage.

As a result, you don't see many Sri Lankans who are great pullers. Someone like Ricky Ponting, brought up on quicker pitches, can pull back-of-a-length balls off the front foot, but you could see in the second innings at Cardiff, after the pitch had quickened up, that the shot wasn't an option for the Sri Lankans.

Looking back at the Sri Lanka's shock defeat in Cardiff, Andy Bull in the Guardian writes that while no one is quite sure how the visitors threw away the first Test, a recovery in time for the second Test is not inconceivable.

It was a curious concatenation of circumstances that Sri Lanka faced on Monday, and they can take some succour from the fact that they are unlikely to find themselves in a similar situation any time soon. They played like a side who thought the match was over, which was understandable given that everyone else had come to the same conclusion.

Stuart Broad relives England's memorable win in Cardiff. More from the Daily Mail.

When we won it was a bit surreal. It was like: ‘Has that just happened?’ We had been sat in the dressing room for much of the five days but now we were back in those same seats after bowling them out in 24 overs!

One bloke was going absolutely mad as we ran up the pavilion steps. He told us he had had a tenner on us at 999 to one and had won £10,000!

We believed we could win and it happened for us. It’s amazing what this team can achieve.

Chris Tremlett picked up four wickets in Sri Lanka's second innings in Cardiff and his role in England's extraordinary victory showed that he has has lost his John Cleese-esque gawkiness and has got the balance right, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.

The shoulders are so much broader. His biceps stretch the short sleeves of his shirt. Too much gym work can damage a pace bowler; it can take away the suppleness and the whip of the action. But Tremlett, we must conclude, has the balance right. He does not have to say anything out in the middle to impose himself on the batsmen. His physical presence does that for him.

Looking back on England's win against Sri Lanka in the first Test, Johnathan Agnew in his column on BBC Sport writes that there were very few people in the stadium in Cardiff to see one of the most extraordinary England wins in recent years and I suspect that they, like the rest of us, could not believe what they saw. Sri Lanka switched off and it cost them.

Sri Lanka must be honest, put their hands up and admit that this was a disaster.

They clearly did not have their mind on the job, which is unforgivable. They may not have known when they would bat, but they knew they were going to have to at some stage.

Two years ago we had the Great Escape [when England drew against Australia in Cardiff] writes Tom Fordyce on the same website. The second Miracle of Cardiff was every bit as impossible to believe.

For all the opprobrium that will be thrown at Sri Lanka after their knock-kneed collapse, equal amounts of praise should be heaped on England.

Here, in under a session, was the encapsulation of why they are now a team to be feared and admired - in a seemingly impossible situation, shorn of their leading bowler, in a match that everyone had written off, somehow finding a way to win against any odds or expectations.

David Lloyd, writing in the Daily Mail, on Ajantha Mendis' variations, Jonathan Trott's unending innings, the incentive for left-arm spinners to make a comeback this summer and more.

They reckon the Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis has got four different variations. But as far as I can tell, they all go straight on. It reminds me of lettuce. You've got cos lettuce, iceberg, Swiss chard and arugula - but at the end of the day, there's no getting away from it: they're all just lettuce.

After Kevin Pietersen was again dismissed by a left-arm spinner on the fourth day in Cardiff, Vic Marks' verdict, in the Guardian, is that he has developed a mental block. Pietersen tries too hard to dominate the left-arm spinners because he is aware people consider them his Achilles' heel, Marks writes.

My impression is that Pietersen is not really technically deficient against left-arm spinners but he has become unnerved by them, something he would vehemently deny. On the very brief evidence of Sunday there is one shot that he declines to play against them now, and that is the forward defensive.

On bbc.co.uk, Jonathan Agnew says Jonathan Trott is the best No. 3 England have had in many years, flexible enough to come in second ball or at 120 for 1. Though some may be frustrated by his slow scoring-rate, he's exactly the kind of player England have been crying out for, Agnew writes.

That means you have to be a quite flexible player and you have to be someone who can cope with a crisis. It's difficult to compare him to other England number threes, not least because they really haven't had a successful number three for a while. That's why they're very grateful to have him and I'm sure he will score a mountain of runs. England have been crying out for someone to bat like that and now they've got one I certainly wouldn't be criticising him.

Sri Lanka without Muttiah Muralitharan are like Queen without Freddie Mercury, Mike Selvey writes in the Guardian. Ajantha Mendis was supposed to take up the mantle but in three years he has gone from mystery bowler to steady but unthreatening.

Mendis will have been scrutinised microscopically. From it will have come the realisation that in a form of the game where there is no imperative to force the pace, there is nothing so mysterious about Mendis at all. " Get forward," is the mantra, "and play him as an off-spin bowler." Simple and, if the statistics are to be believed, effective, for since that debut series, 13 matches have thus far brought him 36 more wickets at 41 runs apiece. The batsmen have got his measure now.

James Anderson's injury could pave the way for Graham Onions to play his first Test in over a year, David Lloyd says in the Independent. The other candidates for the position are Steven Finn, Ajmal Shehzad and Jade Dernbach, he writes.

The problem for Finn this week could be that Strauss's two remaining fast bowlers, Broad and Tremlett, are both tall, bang it in merchants, and a third of the same type would leave England with little in the way of variety. So what price a heart-warming return for Onions, whose style is much more "kiss the turf" and search for seam movement?

Watching Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott bat on a wet day, in a Test headed for a draw, may not be the most exciting in the world, but while they may not always put bums on seats, you can't neglect how effective the pair have been for England, Tom Fordyce writes on bbc.co.uk.

Cook and Trott have formed a bond as successful as it is unlikely. The latter is an anxious starter and twitchy stayer - scratching that trench on the popping crease, fiddling his way through an extended routine before every ball that he faces. Cook, by contrast, increasingly resembles a run-making robot, as unflustered on 99 as he is on nine.

Cardiff has failed to produce substantial crowds for the Test so far, but in the Daily Telegraph Steve James says criticism of the venue is harsh.

The crowds have not been exceptional – although there were 10, 479 present on Saturday, by far the best of the three days – and in an instant the judgement has been that there is little or no appetite for Test cricket in Wales. Before the accusations of bias fly, I must stress that I too remain sceptical on that front, but it is far too soon to say categorically. And there is no going back now. Glamorgan simply cannot survive without Test cricket. As a venue this has to be granted time.

While England might not miss Paul Collingwood's runs this summer, they need to find someone to take those flying catches in the slips, and to bowl occasionally rewarding medium-pace, says David Lloyd in the Independent. The policy of playing only four bowlers also needs to be debated in the light of evidence from the Cardiff Test, he writes.

Collingwood probably dropped too many chances throughout the course of a long Test career to be mentioned in the same breath as South Africa's Jonty Rhodes when it comes to truly great fielders of the modern area. But he did hold any number of stupendous catches that left his team-mates open-mouthed in admiration.

Now, whether Collingwood would have held the two edges that flashed close to Alastair Cook – new filler of the third slip slot – is impossible to tell. Experience tells us, though, that he probably would have snaffled one of them, and quite possibly have reacted more quickly than Eoin Morgan did at point when a miscue landed fractionally short of him.

In the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain writes that England have succeeded with a four-man attack largely due to the brilliance of Graeme Swann, but taking 20 wickets could get tougher during the winter. He hopes that England find a way to get Samit Patel into the side to improve the balance.

Stuart Broad has had a rough last few months. Injured during the Ashes, then injured during the World Cup, it is something of a triumph for him just to be back in an England shirt. After running the rule over his first day performance in the opening Test against Sri Lanka, David Lloyd writes in the Independent that England should perhaps have delayed Broad’s return until he had shaken the rust from his boots.

Andrew Strauss gave Broad the new ball, in partnership with Anderson, but saw England's newly appointed Twenty20 captain struggle to find the sort of consistency that was a hallmark of the team's success in Australia. There were some good deliveries, as one would expect on a pitch offering just a hint of assistance if no pace whatsoever during the first few overs. But there was too much loose stuff as well – meat and drink to Sri Lanka's in-form openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana.

The first Test against Sri Lanka in Cardiff is England's first step towards achieving the No.1 ranking in Tests. Read more from Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.

But what happened in Sydney and at other points around Australia should persuade England that they have what it takes to be the best Test side in the world. Stuart Law, the coach of Sri Lanka, has missed no opportunity to say that he thinks they are the top side already. The rankings put them at two, behind India, with Sri Lanka at four.

For England to assume the peak for the first time since official rankings began, they must defeat Sri Lanka and, later in the season, India. The first part of that should be well within their grasp and there was a new-beginning type of spring in England's step yesterday.

Brenkley, again in the Independent, previews Sri Lanka's chances, singling out their bowling as a major worry, particularly in foreign conditions.

In the Daily Telegraph, Michael Vaughan says Kevin Pietersen, under scrutiny for quite some time now, has an excellent opportunity to have a vintage summer as he is at his most dangerous when he has a point to prove.

Nasser Hussain, in his dossier for the first Test in the Daily Mail, chalks out the talking points for the teams, singling out Graeme Swann as the bowler to watch out for on what is expected to be a flat Cardiff track.

How effective Eoin Morgan is as a replacement for Paul Collingwood will be a factor in England's progress this summer, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.

Vic Marks, also in the Guardian, turns focus to Stuart Broad, back in the England team after missing much of the Ashes. He says while it's good news that Broad has returned, he faces plenty of competition for his place in the side.

Evidence to prove Kevin Pietersen is in good form is sketchy. Can he offer some proof in Cardiff, asks Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.

Something happened and it has not yet unhappened. He has been afflicted by injuries in the past two years and his batting has mislaid the carefree fluency of yore. Maybe bowlers know a bit more about him, but sometimes he has been in several minds at the crease and what was outrageously successful has looked daft. The risks that once paid dividends in a bull market have cost him dearly in a bear market.

In the Daily Telegraph, Simon Hughes says Andrew Strauss has perfected the art of captaincy and backs him to propel England to the No.1 ranking in Tests.

James Anderson aims high and says England will target beating Sri Lanka and India convincingly to achieve the No.1 Test ranking in the Daily Mail.

In the Guardian, Mike Selvey says the retirement of Paul Collingwood from Tests has meant that Graeme Swann has lost an important ally in that format, in the slips.

England's selectors chose to go with Eoin Morgan over Ravi Bopara for the first Test against Sri Lanka, and Jonathan Agnew writing on BBC Sport says that while Bopara's bowling might have offered Andrew Strauss an option for a few overs here and there, most will agree that if Morgan can now cement his place with some big scores, his innovative and busy style of batting would be invaluable to England's middle order.

Bopara is a lovely natural player and turned down the IPL to focus on pressing his Test claims. The England camp does not actively encourage its players to take part in the IPL circus, but having granted Morgan permission to play by issuing him a 'no objection certificate', they could hardly penalise him for doing so - particularly after scoring a big hundred against the tourists.

It was consistency of selection that won the day for Eoin Morgan and Steve Finn, who have been selected in England's squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, writes Mike Selvey in the Guardian.

But there is no question that in terms of finding a potential long-term Test-match batsman, for which temperament is an important factor, the selectors have chosen the right man. As a result of his grounding in one-day cricket Morgan still has technical deficiencies that are unsuited to the longer forms of the game, particularly outside off stump, and these are areas that are sure to be exploited by Sri Lanka. But he has well-earned the soubriquet "Iceman" and the prospect of his coming in at No6 and batting as he did in Derby is a mouthwatering one – he may prove as much a game-maker as Collingwood was a game-saver.

England chose expediency ahead of loyalty yesterday writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent and it demonstrated that their prime motivation must always be to pick the team to win the match and that all other considerations are excluded.

Morgan not only decided that the IPL was better for him (and certainly more lucrative) than the County Championship but had also casually confirmed that were he not picked for the first Test against Sri Lanka he would return to play for the Knight Riders.

The selectors insist they are happy enough with Morgan's commitment to England's Test cause but Miller will have a word with him to establish his priorities. Bopara was bitterly disappointed when the news of his omission was broken on Saturday evening. He will feel that his commitment has been discarded, though his decision was probably eased by the fact that staying in England meant he was around for the birth of his first child a month ago.

Sri Lanka have never won a Test series in England which has involved more than a single Test and will surely find it impossible to rectify that record without their bowling colossus Muttiah Muralitharan writes Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph. The control he was able to exert on the opposition will be difficult for Sri Lanka to reprise.

Despite that gaping hole in Sri Lanka’s resources England’s batsmen cannot be entirely complacent, even if Murali and Lasith Malinga, another who recently called time on his Test career, won’t be around to torment them.

Sri Lanka will not be cowed easily. Dilshan, defiantly not a product of one of the elite Colombo schools, is a tough competitor who is prepared to mix it with his opponents a bit like Javed Miandad used to do for Pakistan. The combination of Dilshan and Stuart Law, the team’s Australian coach, means they will not lack the direct approach.