Hussain Spells Out England's Weakness

Andrew Caddick was plastered all round the Premadasa Stadium to the tune of 49 runs in his six-over new-ball spell.

Matthew Hoggard fared little better as Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly took a heavy toll of all who dared bowl at them.

The result was an eight-wicket victory wrapped up with 10.3 overs to spare.

It all left a shell-shocked Hussain trying to make sense of what he had seen.

He paid tribute to the "brilliant" batting of Sehwag (126) and Ganguly (117no).

But the skipper singled out England's bowling as one area where improvements need to be made in preparation for a long winter ahead which will take in the Ashes and attendant one-day tournament, and will culminate in the World Cup.

Hussain said: "We are all right when we play against sides who do not come at us with the bat.

"When someone is coming at you there have to be subtle variations. In England we are used to bowling back of a length and seeing the ball swing or go off the seam.

"But in these conditions you have to have something magical up your sleeve. We tried to do that against India - but everything we tried to do still seemed to go for four."