England v Sri Lanka: Headingley no longer a bowling paradise – Bresnan

Bresnan said it was time to change the time-honoured perception it is a paradise for bowlers and purgatory for batsmen.

The Yorkshire star made his comments ahead of today’s second one-day international against Sri Lanka, where he will be looking to inspire England to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

“The idea that Headingley helps bowlers is no longer fair,” said Bresnan, who will be playing his third ODI at the ground and 44th in total.

“The pitches at Headingley have got flatter – especially the one-day international pitch – and if you look at the totals going back over recent years, teams have been getting in the region of 300 in ODIs.

“To be honest, that’s probably a par score at Headingley these days.

“The pitch for this game looks similar to me, but we’ll have to wait and see how it plays.”

Bresnan’s remarks are supported by statistics.

Last year, England beat Pakistan by four wickets at Headingley as a century from Andrew Strauss helped them to a target of 295.

The 2009 match against West Indies was abandoned due to rain but, in 2008, England scored 275-4 en route to beating South Africa by 20 runs.

In 2007, India totalled 324-6 as they beat England by 38 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, equalling the highest ODI total at the ground set the previous year by Sri Lanka, who made 324-2 to romp to an eight-wicket victory with 12.3 overs to spare.

That match, which took place five years ago today, was marred by the sad news of the death of former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Fred Trueman, who passed away at the age of 75.

What Fiery Fred would have made of England’s performance in that game is not difficult to deduce.

The home side were put to the sword in incredible style by openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga, who both scored hundreds during a stand of 286 in just 32 overs.

Bresnan bowled two overs in that game, returning 0-29 on only his fourth ODI appearance, as Sri Lanka completed a 5-0 whitewash.

There will be no Jayasuriya or Tharanga this time as Sri Lanka look to avenge last Tuesday’s 110-run defeat at the Oval.

Jayasuriya has retired following a final hurrah in that match, while Tharanga is suspended after failing a drugs test.

Mahela Jayawardene is expected to open with captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, with youngster Dinesh Chandimal likely to bat at No 3.

Bresnan was a callow 21-year-old when Jayasuriya and Tharanga flayed England to all parts and understandably does not want to dwell on those memories.

It was a minor blip on his road to becoming an Ashes winner last winter when he came of age as an international cricketer.

“That Sri Lanka game was a bit of a learning curve for me,” he admitted.

“Every international bowler goes through that sort of period and I was going through it back then.

“But what happened five years ago is history now, it has no bearing on the present and doesn’t worry me at all.

“I’d like to think both myself and the team have bounced back strongly.”

The esteem in which Bresnan is held by England was evidenced by the way he was recalled for last Tuesday’s game having only just recovered from a calf injury.

Bresnan had only just returned to action with Yorkshire and produced a couple of indifferent performances by his standards in Twenty20 fixtures at Warwickshire and Worcestershire, where he returned combined figures of 1-74 from seven overs.

But the Pontefract-born player was firmly back in his stride at the Oval, where he scored 23 from 14 balls to inject valuable impetus towards the end of the England innings before taking 1-26 from six overs.

He now hopes to produce another key role in front of his home fans.

“It was nice to get the call to come straight back into the England side,” he said. “I suppose if I’m playing for Yorkshire I might as well be playing for England, so to speak, and I felt pretty good during Tuesday’s match.

“Hopefully, I can do well again at Headingley and the boys can get another good result.”

England (from): Alastair Cook (captain), Craig Kieswetter, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn.

Sri Lanka (from): Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Thilina Kandamby, Dinesh Chandimal, Mahela Jayawardene, Suraj Randiv, Dimuth Karunaratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara.

Yorkshire return to Twenty20 Cup action tonight when they play Northamptonshire at Wantage Road (6.50pm start).

Andrew Gale’s men are second-bottom of the North Group having lost five of their first 10 games.

Yorkshire probably need to win at least five of their remaining six group fixtures to reach the quarter-finals. Northamptonshire are bottom of the table having lost six of their nine games.

Martin Guptill struck an unbeaten half-century to guide Derbyshire to their first LV County Championship away victory this season with a six-wicket success over Glamorgan at Cardiff.