England face fresh spin ordeal in Test series against Sri Lanka A new board, but not a new chief executive, is said to be addressing the problem but easy solutions appear elusive. The World T20 in September, as well as TV rights for the Asia Cup and the Test series against England will help in part to defray that deficit, but they have needed to borrow another $5 million just to pay the players. Not that this has especially disheartened Jayawardene's team, judging from the team's tenacious performances in the CB series finals against Australia, which they lost 2-1. But if their parlous financial state is not to England's advantage, making them play in the Asia Cup should be. If they reach the final, they will return to Sri Lanka on March 23, travel to Galle the next day and then play England in the first Test the day after. England may need their opponents to be handicapped in that way, as they have never fared that well in Sri Lanka, whose slow pitches and enervating heat and humidity offer what Nasser Hussain once called "a unique challenge in cricket." Apart from England's victory in the lone Test there in 1982, Hussain's team of 2000/01 are the only England side to have won a Test series there and only then by fractions of good fortune and Graham Thorpe's brilliance against spin. There is a feeling that their blueprint might still hold, given the likely make up of England's current team. Then the bowling was comprised of two spinners, Ashley Giles and Robert Croft, and two pacemen, Darren Gough and Andy Caddick, with Gough's reverse swing crucial. All but Gough's reverse swing is provided for by James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steve Finn while Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar more than match the spinners. Yet, Hussain's batsmen made competitive totals for the conditions, something Andrew Strauss's side failed to do in their recent series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. While Sri Lanka's batsmen are better than Pakistan's, their spinners are not as talented. The threat posed by Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv and Ajantha Mendis, though, is still great enough for England to send some of their under-performing batsmen to Colombo early for naughty boy nets. While they have been netting since Tuesday, the rest of the squad have been resting at home and fly on Saturday. Andy Flower has won only one Test series in Asia, against Bangladesh, since taking over as team director three years ago. Hotter and sweatier than the UAE but with pitches likely to suit spin every bit as much as the ones upon which they endured their whitewash, this could be slaughter in the sauna unless England's batsmen find ways to cope with the turning ball. The key, especially at Galle and the P Sara Stadium in Colombo, is for batsmen to soak up a lot of balls. Attritional cricket is how Hussain's team played it, not risking bold statements until the last two days, when pitches suddenly begin to play tricks. According to members of the Lions" team, who played in Sri Lanka during January, the pitch at the P Sara Stadium has reasonable pace and carry, which could suit Broad and Finn. But two Tests do not give you any leeway to come back from behind, which is presumably why England, the haves in terms of salaries and a sensible build-up, need to reach Galle with bodies acclimatised and their batting insecurities sorted.