Former Sri Lankan captain Aravinda de Silva said that the current bunch of players don’t play as bravely as the earlier players did. The former national team’s chief selector feels England’s present team approach to Test cricket is impressive and added that it’s not impossible to defeat them in their backyard as well. The players like Romesh Kaluwitharana, Sanath Jayasuriya, Arjuna Ranarunga, de Silva, Chaminda Vaas, and Muttiah Muralitharan were the core of the men’s team’s golden era as well.

Speaking to inews.co.uk, the veteran stated, “That was Sri Lanka playing like no other side has done in history. We had an identity, people knew the way that Sri Lankan cricketers played the game and teams wanted to emulate that. I don’t think we have that at the moment. I’m enjoying the way that England are playing their cricket at the moment. They’re playing very, very attacking cricket – whether they’re bowling or batting, England are taking a really positive approach and it’s paying off. Winning in England is hard. But it’s certainly not impossible.”

Since Brendon McCullum became England’s Test team’s head coach, they have been playing aggressively. The 2022 home season saw them chase down three consecutive targets of over 250 quite well, including 378 against India at Edgbaston as well. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have won only a solitary series in English which came in a two-match rubber in 2014. The first Test of that series at Lord’s ended in a draw, while the tourists won the second at Headingley in a nail-biting way. Notably, England won the three-match Test series convincingly by 2-0 in 2016 as well.