By Jonathan Agnew BBC Sport cricket correspondent at Edgbaston

England finished the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston on 138-3, three runs behind Sri Lanka's first innings total.

Rather then improving, Monty Panesar's fielding is deteriorating alarmingly quickly, to the extent that even a basic stop is a minor victory.

Monty Panesar shows his dejection after spilling an easy chance

He dropped a sitter at mid-off before Malinga had scored - he and Vaas added 50 for the ninth wicket - and also failed to get a hand to a chance at backward square leg that should have been taken.

England have a dilemma in that Panesar is the best spinner in the country.

But there is no hiding place in Test cricket, and not only can missed catches cost the team dear, but with every incident, Panesar's confidence takes another knock.

Of course, his main job is bowling, and he took Malinga's wicket in his first over to suggest that he is able to put these setbacks behind him when he has the ball in his hand.

But one shudders to think what the Australian crowds will do to him this winter.

There is an interesting contest developing between Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood.

We anticipate Steve Harmison's return at Trent Bridge next week, so one of the two youngsters will have to make way.

And after Mahmood won the early points at Lord's, Plunkett eased into the lead on Thursday.

In ideal swing and seam conditions, he bowled beautifully, taking two wickets in his first over and finishing with 3-43.

Had Panesar not dropped Malinga at mid-off, Plunkett's figures would have been even better - and Sri Lanka would have been 84-9, and unlikely to have reached 100.

Plunkett's delivery to remove Sri Lanka's best batsman, Mahela Jayawardene was a beauty.

It nipped away off the seam and bounced more than the batsman expected to give the young swing bowler two wickets in four balls.

This was the result of excellent captaincy from Andrew Flintoff, who bowled only three overs himself with the new ball before deciding that a bowler of Plunkett's type might enjoy the conditions more.

The first over was a double-wicket maiden - and Sri Lanka were already in a mess at 16-3.

England will aim to bat for as much of the second day as possible to build a substantial lead and put Sri Lanka on the rack.

It is important for England to score as many as they possibly can in their first innings because the pitch will certainly help Muttiah Muralitharan.

And the seamers also found more uneven bounce than one would expect on the first day.