Sri Lanka in England

Aravinda de Silva said he was thrilled to have become the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 6,000 Test runs.

The 36-year-old last played a Test in March 2001, also against England, and had to lose nearly two stone in weight before he was picked for the tour.

But he rolled back the years with a superb 88 and was unlucky not to reach his 20th test century.

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Stewart has warned that unless England's top order deliver, they can expect a humbling defeat at the home of cricket.

He said: "Our first target is the follow on.

"It's a good wicket, we may see a little bit of uneven bounce but there hasn't been much sideways movement and it's hardly swung.

"But one thing we have to make sure of is that we're still batting tonight.

"We have some good batsmen in our dressing room, but we have to be mindful that the pitch may just keep a little low.

Miscellaneous

Australian umpires got 95 per cent of decisions correct in international cricket during the 2001-02 season.

The Australian Cricket Board used video evidence to analyse the performance of home officials during Test series against New Zealand and South Africa and the triangular one-day competition involving all three teams.

Of the 363 appeals made to Australian umpires, they gave the correct decision on 345 occasions.

"If we want our umpires to improve, an effective way to do that is to sit down and review each decision and use footage to iron out deficiencies," said ACB umpiring manager Geoff Allardice.

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Australian Cricket Board statistics show that Australian umpires were wrong just once in 20 appeals during the Test and one-day series against New Zealand and South Africa last summer.

A total of 363 appeals were made during the three Tests against the Proteas and three Tests against the Kiwis and the one-day series, and the analysis shows that the correct decision was made 345 times.

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Allan Donald is to join Worcestershire for a short-term stint at New Road in June. The South African fast bowler will deputise for Andy Bichel while the Australian takes part in a one-day series at home to Pakistan.

And he hopes the stint will push his claims for a place in South Africa's World Cup squad next February.

Donald was introduced to the Worcestershire crowd during the lunch interval of Friday's Championship match against Essex at New Road.

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All-rounder Wasim Akram has urged Australia's players not to rush into any hasty decisions about touring Pakistan later this year.

The tour is in doubt after a bomb attack in Karachi forced New Zealand to abandon their tour earlier this month just hours before the start of a Test match.

Australian captain Steve Waugh and teammate Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have all indicated that they believe it is too dangerous to the team to travel to Pakistan.

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