Nurdle Cricket – England’s Ben Fawkes made a memorable debut to help the tourists recover from a terrible start and reach 8-321 on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
At 2-10 and then 5-103, England looked unlikely to even reach the 200-run mark, but Fox put on a 50-plus stand with Jos Buttler and Sam Curran to pull them back into the contest.
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Jack Leach had 14 points after a remarkable turnaround for the tourists in the last two sessions.
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Asked about the conditions he was playing in when he played, Fox said, “I thought it was going to fall apart and it was going to be hard to get me out.
“I think I had to push because of (given) the state of the game, that’s my game. It was a little bit dry so it was a little bit easier to get some points.”
England made a convincing start to life after the retirement of the already formidable Alastair Cook after captain Joe Root opted to bat first to avoid the prospect of a final innings at a famously spin-friendly venue.
However, it was Suranga Lakmal’s early pace that blew the team’s top order, playing in their first Test since Cook’s resignation in September.
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Opener Rory Burns (nine) disappointed on debut and Moeen Ali failed to live up to his promotion to No.3 as Lakmal took two wickets in two balls.
Sri Lanka wasted 12 overs in both overs but it was Rangana Herath’s 40-year-old retired golden arm that ended Jennings and Root’s 62-run partnership.
Herath, given a guard of honor by his teammates ahead of his 93rd and final Test, took a forward route at York to claim his 100th cap in 1999, the venue where he played his Test debut.
Dilruwan Perera (4-70) took his second wicket, dismissing Jennings for 46 and Ben Stokes for 7, dismissing two left-handers.
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Buttler and Fox avoided the ultra-aggressive batting that England lost in the morning session and built a 61-run partnership for the sixth innings.
After Perera dismissed Buttler for 38, Fawkes put on an 88-run stand with Curran, who hit three sixes before being dismissed for 48, while Adil Rashid was dismissed for 35.
“I think I’ve been here three times with the Lions and I’ve played club games here again,” he said.
“So you get a real feel for the conditions and the heat and everything else that comes with it. I think that really helped.”