John Dyson is looking for his first Test win as Sri Lanka coach

Dyson ridiculed the tourists' performance in the second Test, where they survived 140 overs, having been set 368 for victory.

"The pitch wasn't turning viciously and I would have thought there was a chance to rewrite records," he said.

"Instead England settled for a draw, it was a staggering attitude."

And the former Australian batsman, who has been critical of England since the tourists arrived, claims Sri Lanka are the better team and deserve to be ahead in the three-match Test series.

Rain helped England draw the first Test in Galle, and only a stubborn first century as England captain from Michael Vaughan prevented defeat in Kandy.

"We've been the dominant team in the one-day game and in the two Test matches," said Dyson.

Dyson slates England in Galle

"We were extremely unfortunate in Galle because of the weather. In Kandy, it was a fantastic effort from Vaughan, who batted beautifully.

"But I also thought that it was in the top order where their experienced lay with tried and tested players.

"I find their attitude strange on such a good wicket that they played for a draw.

"It is very difficult to get people out when they are not playing shots.

"It was a brave declaration, but at no stage did England try and chase the runs on a good wicket with a fast outfield.

"Yet it was a hell of a lot of time to get that amount of runs on that wicket."

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Despite Dyson's aggressive stance, England are confident of taking the series in Colombo, having completed a similar 2-1 turnaround victory there three winters ago.

Sri Lanka, relying heavily on spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, have dominated the first two Tests - but failed to kill off their opponents.

Muralitharan has 19 wickets in the two matches, but has been forced to send down an incredible 164.4 overs in the process.

England coach Duncan Fletcher said: "When he is in his first 25 overs, I am not sure you can get the hang of him, he is a real handful.

"But after that, once they have seen him and he has started to tire a bit and you can see he is not spinning it as much, we can probably handle him."