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| |  Saturday, 1 June, 2002, 22:03 GMT 23:03 UK Thorpe thanks Hoggard England enjoyed a record 10th wicket partnership Graham Thorpe toasted Matthew Hoggard after the Yorkshire paceman helped him to a Test century that left England in command at Edgbaston. Yorkshire's Hoggard survived at the crease long enough to allow Thorpe to reach the landmark in an England total of 545 all out. When the tail ender walked out to bat, Thorpe needed 39 to complete his 11th Test century.
And Hoggard managed an unbeaten 17 in a 91-run partnership for an English record 10th wicket stand with Thorpe. Sri Lanka were then left on 30 for two after Hoggard bowled Sanath Jayasuriya and trapped Kumar Sangakkara lbw in consecutive overs. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene put together a partnership of 102 to leave the visitors on 132-2 - 251 runs behind. "I said I would buy him (Hoggard) a pint tonight as soon as I got to my hundred," said Thorpe. "I was thinking of having a swipe when he came in because I didn't know how long he was going to last. "But after his first couple of overs he seemed as though he wanted to knuckle down to the task. "The partnership was important and as it progressed he played very well, didn't look in any trouble at all and that extra 90 runs could now be crucial in the game. "At the beginning I was trying to protect him a little bit, especially from Murali (Muralitharan), but he was almost telling me which bowlers he was comfortable against and how many balls to leave him."
Muralitharan said: "I have always said he is a wonderful batsman, a good player. I rate him very highly." And the spinner, who has been suffering from a shoulder injury, added: "There was a lot of soreness in the shoulder. "But you don't think about the pain when you bowl, you just think about getting the batsmen out - it's all mind games. "I can't bat and I can't field, that restricts me and I don't want to be like that. "But if the team and the selectors want me to play I will. They asked me whether I could, so I told them I could bowl but not do other things." | |
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