“It changed the entire momentum of the game” – Angelo Mathews bemoans ‘ball change’ during Sri Lanka’s second innings in ENG vs SL 1st Test 2024

Sri Lanka’s veteran batter Angelo Mathews slammed ball change during their second innings in the opening Test match against England at Old Trafford, Manchester. Mathews was batting on 59 whereas Kamindu Mendis was on 33 when the ball was changed during the drinks break.

The ball change worked wonders for the hosts as Mathews was dismissed on 65 by Chris Woakes, breaking the 78-run alliance with Mendis.

Milan Rathnayake, who had scored an impressive 72 in his debut Test innings, was also dismissed after scoring 10 runs. Kamindu Mendis went on to score a brilliant knock of 113 runs but England registered a five-wicket win as the home team chased down 205 runs.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Angelo Mathews said ahead of Day 4, “It looked like they were running out of plans but unfortunately the ball was changed. We were told they didn’t have old enough balls to replace. It changed the entire momentum of the game. You work so hard to get rid of that shine, and we did that. Once the ball was changed, it was a whole different game.”

Further explaining the incident, the veteran batter added that the ball change is unfair as the batters do all the hard work to play out the new ball.

“I think it could be unfair for batters on both teams, because the batters want to get rid of the hard, shiny ball, and once we got to the 48-over mark, I think we were quite comfortably playing them. Taking nothing away from England, they bowled extremely well. It’s just that, it all depends on the manufacture of the ball as well. It could be from 2020 to 2023, it could have some changes, and also it’s all about having a set of rules around how you change the ball.”

“If it doesn’t go through the rings, yes it’s obvious. But if the seam position changes and all that, we kind of get rid of the seam by cutting the seam as well. It’s just my opinion, but it can be very disadvantageous for the set batters. We were quite comfortable and it changed the entire momentum of the game.”

The second Test match between England and Sri Lanka will be played at Lord’s, starting August 29.