But although denied a whitewash, England had already done enough to secure a 2-0 series win after dominant victories by an innings and 88 runs and nine wickets over the Lankans at Leeds and Chester-le-Street respectively.

England now hold Test series trophies against every other major international side except Pakistan, who beat Cook’s men 2-1 in a three-match series in the United Arab Emirates in November last year.

However, they will have a chance to put that right when they face Pakistan in a four-Test series starting at Lord’s on July 14.

“They’ve got a very good (pace) attack, backed up with spinners,” Cook said of Pakistan.

“We’re ready for them. We scored a lot of runs against Australia’s attack here last year — I think it’s going to be a brilliant series.”

While Test specialist Cook prepares for Pakistan, wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow will be looking to take his red-ball form into the intervening five one-day internationals against Sri Lanka.

Bairstow’s recall into England’s one-day squad was announced just as he was being confirmed as both man-of-the-match at Lord’s and the hosts’ overall man of the Test series too.

His 167 not out in the first innings at Lord’s was his Test-best score and came amidst a series scoring-spree that saw Bairstow total 387 runs at an average of 129, with the Yorkshireman also holding 19 catches behind the stumps.

Together with James Anderson, who took 21 wickets at a stunningly low average of 10.80, Bairstow was the central figure of the series.

Bairstow repeatedly helped England recover from top-order collapses against Sri Lanka and Cook likened his contribution to that of retired former England wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

“He’s very similar to Matt Prior… when he was at his best, we could often be 100 for five and he’d change the momentum,” explained Cook.

Hard work

Prior’s wicket-keeping came under intense scrutiny early in his career, especially as England — be it Alan Knott, Bob Taylor or Jack Russell — have long prided themselves on their glovemen.

Bairstow, himself the son of the late former Yorkshire and England wicket-keeper David Bairstow, also found his work in the field being called into question after he floored a couple of seemingly straightforward chances against Sri Lanka.

“Jonny is enjoying both roles,” said Cook.

“He knows how hard he has to work at his keeping — that is a conversation we do have,” added the captain, who has been able to observe Bairstow’s work closely from his position at first slip.

Bairstow, meanwhile, was pleased at maintaining the form he showed in South Africa, where his 150 not out in Cape Town in January gave him a maiden Test century.

“Off the back of South Africa, it was important to start the summer well,” he said.

“I hope this is just the start of something that will be special for a while.”

For Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, the hope is his side, having had time to adjust to English conditions, will raise their game in the white-ball formats.

However, the all-rounder accepted England were a much improved one-day team from the side that Sri Lanka thrashed by nine wickets at last year’s World Cup in Wellington.

“They play positive cricket and you have got to be on your toes and really good to beat England in the ODI series that’s coming up,” Mathews said.

Perera tested positive test for a banned anabolic steroid, but his lawyers later raised concerns the amounts were so low that they could have been produced naturally by the body or formed in the samples after they were submitted.

And last month he was cleared to play again by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the laboratory withdrew its “adverse original finding” and replaced it with an “atypical finding”, and said no further investigation was warranted.

The wicket-keeper/batsman wasn’t allowed to take part in any formal cricket training during his suspension and missed this year’s World Twenty20, but an injury to seamer Dhammika Prasad created a space in Sri Lanka’s tour party.

“They haven’t told me if I’m playing yet,” Perera told reporters at Lord’s on Tuesday after a training session.

“If I do get to play, it’s a great opportunity to play at Lord’s. I was thrown into trouble and to come back from that at Lord’s would be great.”

Perera said belief in his own innocence had helped sustain him in the months he was banned from cricket.

“Even the time I was out of the team I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he said.

“I couldn’t really think about cricket much in those months, because my focus was on the problem I was facing. I didn’t have any time to think about whether I was in touch, or whether I could train, or even what was happening in cricket. I started training after the day I was cleared.

“I didn’t have a lot of centre-wicket training because of the rain (in Sri Lanka).”

Dominate

He added: “After six months your body needs to get used to training again. Your body starts to hurt –- but that’s normal. But what I’ve found is that because I’m coming into it quite fresh, I’m hitting the ball well, I’m seeing it well.” Sri Lanka are already 2-0 down in the three-match series, with their batsmen having struggled so far in English conditions against new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

But Lord’s, where no side has been dismissed for under 350 in three County Championship matches so far this season, promises to provide the best batting pitch of the series.

Perera, who could come in for injured all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana (twisted ankle), said he hoped forecast warmer temperatures than those the tourists experienced during a nine-wicket defeat in the second Test at Chester-le-Street would also benefit Sri Lanka later this week. “I watched the (England) attack and it’s mostly fast bowlers,” he said. “In London the conditions seem easier, because it must have been very cold in Durham.

“When it’s cold you are a bit stiff and your feet don’t work as well. With this weather and given the pitch as well –- which looks like it will be batting-friendly –- I think there’s a chance for us to dominate them.”

Of the six wickets Sri Lanka took during the day four were due to outstanding catches.

Skipper Angelo Mathews’ blinder of a catch at slip to send back Alex Hales for 83 was the top of the lot. The England opener offered a full blooded cut off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and as the ball flew off the edge Mathews dived to his right and held the ball one-handed.

Sri Lanka’s brilliant catching compensated for the Lankan bowling which was too friendly on the slow pitch where the odd ball kept low.

Dimuth Karunaratne picked up a fine catch at slip to send back Alastair Cook for 15, denying the England captain his milestone of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Cook started the day requiring 20 to reach the landmark but fell short by five when he was dismissed for 15.

Unless Sri Lanka put up a good first innings total, and make England to bat again in the second innings Cook may well have to wait until the start of the third and final Test at Lord’s on June 9 to get to the milestone. At Leeds, England batted only once and won the Test by an innings to go one-up in the three match series. Suranga Lakmal who replaced the injured Dushmantha Chameera pulled off a stunning catch at deep square leg when Nick Compton offered a full blooded pull with his score on nine.

The fourth catch of the day was held by Lahiru Thirimanne at short cover when James Vince drove at Siriwardana and the fielder diving to his right pulled off a ripper.

Sri Lankan bowling in these conditions looked harmless but their persistency paid rich dividends as they managed to prize out six England wickets.

Joe Root was the other England batsman to miss out on a hundred when he popped up a simple catch to Kaushal Silva at cover with his score on 80.

Hales and Root added 96 and Root also shared another half century stand with Vince. But each time England looked like running away with the game Sri Lanka managed to pull back and pluck a wicket.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Lankan bowlers finishing with three wickets for 69 including that of Jonny Bairstow the man of the match at Leeds with a career best 140. Bairstow fell to the second new ball attempting to slash at Pradeep and giving Dinesh Chandimal a straight forward catch after scoring 48 off 57 balls.

With Moeen Ali who was unbeaten on 28 at the close, Bairstow added 70 for the sixth wicket. Chris Woakes who replaced the injured Ben Stokes was not out eight.

Like Cook, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was also left seeking his 300th Test wicket. Herath created some problems for the batsmen with his guile and flight but England managed to overcame it and deprive him of the milestone. Herath is shy of one wicket from becoming the third Sri Lankan bowler to get to the mark.

Siriwardana considered to be the man with the golden arm justified his selection ahead of Dasun Shanaka with two wickets – both to excellent catches by Mathews and Thirimanne.

In the gloomy morning it looked as if Sri Lanka had got it all wrong when they left out Shanaka for the left-arm spin of Siriwardana, but later as the day progressed and the wicket started to get slow and keep low it seemed a good choice.

It seems the Lankans whose fielding had dropped drastically in recent times have worked hard in this area and the results are showing on the field.

The overcast skies gave away to bright sunshine during the final session of play. The forecast for the next two days is for good weather.