Sun shines to give Galle grounds for optimism

This ground is not ready, not by normal standards, and nor will it be by the morning. But 48 hours of hard graft from an army of workers has made a considerable difference and, with determination all round, the third and final Test between England and Sri Lanka will start on schedule, rain permitting.

Two days ago, thanks to some unseasonably bad weather, the pitch looked as though it would not be playable for a week. Today, though, it was drying fast under a hot sun and both sides were able to hold their final practice sessions out in the middle, rather than indoors.

As for the rest of the ground, it should be a sight to behold when the next Test is played here, in 2008. For this week, however, most fans will need to make do with sitting on any chairs that can be found, arranged in temporary stands that were still being erected today.

Were this match taking place anywhere else, the lack of proper facilities and the failure to complete the project on time would be a subject for criticism. Here, given the circumstances, there is a unanimous view that the show must go on if at all possible.

The facts will be known to everyone. On Boxing Day 2004, some 40,000 people in Sri Lanka alone lost their lives because of a tsunami which devastated much of the south coast, including Galle.

The wall of water that came ashore was 20-feet high in places. One of those places was the cricket ground, which has had to be rebuilt almost entirely from scratch.

"We were in New Zealand at the time and the first television pictures we saw were of Galle," said Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene. "We could see the ground under water.

"This is definitely going to be an emotional time for our guys. A lot of our team are from this part of the country and we'll be remembering those who are not here. Hopefully, this can be a new beginning."

Sri Lanka's determination to play here this week, almost regardless, is perfectly right and perfectly understandable. And, happily, they have good allies in this England team.

"We are aware that this is much more than just a cricket match," said Kevin Pietersen. "The people are being as helpful as they can be and we're here to provide a good spectacle."

England are also here to win. They need a victory to not only share the series but also to prevent themselves sliding from second place to fifth in the Test rankings.

"We need to do a job here because we want to finish with a 1-1 scoreline," said Pietersen. "If we can do that I think it will have been an amazing tour after earlier winning the one-day series over here."

England are launching an incentive scheme which will reward their players £5,000 a time for a Test double-century or seven-wicket haul.

Bearing in mind there have been only nine of those performances in 102 matches since 2000, the ECB's treasurer-need not worry too much. But, so far as this series is concerned, a hundred and a five-wicket performance would go a long way towards balancing the books.

So far, 10 half-centuries have been posted without one of them being converted into three figures.

And Matthew Hoggard's four-wicket burst on the opening morning of the First Test in Kandy remains the pick of the bowling displays. As ever, England will need to prevent Muttiah Muralitharan from being the match-winner.

He may be assisted here by legspinner Malinga Bandara while the visitors must decide whether to recall Hoggard after he missed the Second Test because of a back injury.