**** England v Sri Lanka at Riverside ****

Halo disappoints.... :-[

Compton survive a review by the spinner.

Cook has been positively David Warner-like in this innings - rocking a strike-rate of 72.27.

Compton knocks the final 8 runs off, denying Cook a fifty. England with another comprehensive victory, but credit to Sri Lanka for putting up a great fight with the bat in their second innings when it would have been easy to have folded and gone home early.

Cook gets to 10,000 runs, Anderson again was pure class, Moeen scored some much needed runs and Woakes impressed in the first innings with the ball. Could do with Finn finding his pace and rhythm ahead of the series with Pakistan. He has looked all out of sorts so far.

Chef's greatest attributes are his concentration and understanding his limitations as a batsman.

Boycott summed it up well in a post match discourse when he, rightly, said that Cook really has 4 shots and when those shots are not available he waits and waits for the bowlers to bowl to his strengths.

He rarely, if ever, attempts to go beyond those limits and it has served him very well.

It is constantly reported in the media and those close to him how grounded he is and how much he escapes the rigour of professional cricket to his farm.

A splendid achievement by reaching the milestone and remaining in the middle as the winning runs were scored.

Well done to him hopefully he can overtake Sachin's aggregate....only 5,879 runs to go.

Congratulations to Alastair. 

Good performance and good win and hopefully we can make it 3-0.

As I said at the commencement of the World T20, albeit a totally different format, this England setup has something about it that enables, encourages and supports the talent of the players selected.

There are areas that should be addressed and that is second and third seamers, a spinner and keeper.

Johnny has some way to go as a test keeper and hopefully he can do a Prior and improve quickly as against better opposition, due respect to the Lankans, we would have suffered. I always see the keeper as a specialist position so I will always select the best keeper as his net contribution behind the stumps normally outweigh his runs less the cost of errors.

Moeen is a splendid batsman who can bowl and had one exceptional series against the Indians with the ball. He can certainly do a job but he can bat higher up and fill a hole part time.

I would stick with Finn and as am not a Woakes fan I hope Stokes return for the Lords test.

I know the selectors will stick with Compton for Lords but my team would be, subject to BS being available

1.    Chef
2.    Halo
3.    Vince
4.    Roooot
5.    Mo
6.    Jonny
7.    Stokes
8.    Adil
9.    Broad
10.  Finn
11.  Anderson

I know the commentators have mentioned another leggie but England has invested a lot in Adil and it is time he get a run to prove himself or move on to someone else.

On commentary, Bumble mentioned that Stokes will miss out on the final Test at Lords and also the one day series against Sri Lanka, though hopes to be fit for the first Test against Pakistan. With the series already decided, it does give us another look at Woakes, not the worst thing in the world.

A fit and firing Steven Finn is an automatic pick for me, unfortunately, he seems all at sea at the moment. He has no rhythm whatsoever and his pace is down. This is not just a temporary blip either, he has yet to rediscover his form of old since his injury during the tour of South Africa. I would definitely persevere with him though. Hopefully he figures things out as he has a big role to play for England, both in the short and long term.

I think Compton definitely gets the final Test at Lords. Should he fail and the selectors look elsewhere for the series against Pakistan, two names have come to the forefront in recent days - Sam Robson and Scott Borthwick.

Robson is having a tremendous season for Middlesex, averaging 79 with three centuries and two fifties in nine innings so far. Had Hales failed this series, I believe he would have been a shoo-in to replace him as Cook's opening partner. As is, he could still do a job at number 3.

Borthwick has been equally as impressive with three centuries also to his name (to go with two more while playing for Wellington during the off-season) and an average of 82 - second best in Division One.  Borthwick offers two advantages over Robson - he is a natural number 3 and provides the option of a second spinner.

Shame BS misses out.

I suppose an opportunity for someone else.

Whilst I miss Compton well, a few runs at Lord should not save him, but in the event he does, it may well will.

Robson was dropped because he started to look like a fish out of water and it was the right decision. Whilst we all deserve a second chance, looking ahead, new blood should be sought.

I have been hearing Borthwick's name being bandied about.

Borthwick looks like he could be the most viable replacement for Compton, more so than Westley. Borthwick has scored 1000+ runs each of the last three years in Division One and is putting some big numbers up on the board early this year.

While trying not to get too far ahead, Borthwick also presents the option of a third spinner on the tours of Bangladesh and India. Zafar Ansari would be another option, though doesn't offer the same bat and has had a hard time staying on the field as of late.

If Borthers gets a chance we will see what he is made of.

What would be your 11 for Lords without second guessing the selectors?