Mathews knows this Test is crucial for Sri Lanka to stay alive in the three-match series and he said he expected a better performance from his team than the one they put up at Leeds five days ago.

On that occasion Sri Lanka were bundled out for scores of 91 and 119 to lose inside three days by an innings and 88 runs. The win has given a 1-0 lead in the series and they will be looking to wrap it up at Durham where the conditions will once again be favourable to their swing and seam attack led by James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

“We had only a few days to turnaround and think about the game and our strategies,” said Mathews at the pre-Test press conference yesterday. “The defeat at Leeds was quite embarrassing we just have to flush it out of the system. The more we think about it the more disappointed we get. Tomorrow’s going to be a fresh start. To stay alive in the series we’ll have to win regardless of the conditions and the weather. We have to go out there and play at our best. “We need to forget Headingley simple as that. That’s the first thing we got to do. You can’t erase it but you can move on and work really hard, have a positive mind set and walk into the game. It’s a mental adjustment we got to do and hopefully the boys will come out right.

“If we play to our potential it is possible to win the Test, not think about the weather too much. We certainly have the skill and the talent it’s just that we need to go and fight it out for the rest of the five days,” he said.

On the daunting prospect of having to come up against two of the best bowlers in English conditions Anderson and Broad, Mathews said, “In these conditions they are really good bowlers wherever they played they have been really good for the past so many years. They are world class bowlers and you’ve got to be skillful especially in these conditions.

“We have more clarity on our top order batting and we also found the right balance it’s just that when you play more games you tend to learn more. Batting is an art in Test cricket, it is a test of skill, temperament and you have to get used to different conditions. Weather can’t be an excuse because we are all international players. It’s just that we played enough cricket to understand what roles we have to play in the team in the batting line-up. Hopefully they will come up with the challenge.

One of the positives to come out of the tour is the batting of 21-year-old Kusal Mendis and Mathews said the other team members could emulate him.

“This is the first tour for him on the big stage – first Test match in England, he showed a lot of character when the ball is swinging and seaming around,” said Mathews. “That itself showed a lot of character about the player. The rest of the batters can also take a lot of positives out of it and take up the challenge.”

Sri Lanka have not finalized their team for the Test and Mathews said that it will be done later during the day after he sees the pitch and meets up with chairman of Sanath Jayasuriya who was expected to arrive here yesterday.

The likelihood is that Suranga Lakmal is the likely prospect of replacing the injured Dushmantha Chameera who has returned home with a back injury.

England are making one change to their squad with Chris Woakes coming in for injured Ben Stokes.

“We have not seen the best of Chris in England. He is in fine form for Warwickshire taking nine wickets,” said England captain Alastair Cook.

“We need that competition in that all-rounder place. Ben is a big loss for us but injuries are part and parcel of cricket and we need to learn how to play without him.”

Cook also said that England’s top order needs to fire after being reduced to 83-5 at Leeds before they recovered to total 298.

“To get to nearly 300 runs you had to bat well in those extraordinary conditions. Tough innings Alex (Hales) had to really ground out and we were 80-5. The game was in the balance. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of our batting it’s an area we can unlock a bit more. We’re aware about it. As a side we’ve spoken about it. Hopefully the next five days we can pay off,” said Cook.

Both teams were confined to practice indoors due to the bad weather which hopefully is expected to improve over the next three days.

The 35-year-old was just three runs away from his ninth Test hundred as he took Pakistan to 146-3 at the close on the third day at Sharjah stadium, leading by 74 runs with seven wickets intact.

Nightwatchman Rahat Ali was the other not out batsman on nought as Pakistan lost the key wicket of Younis Khan for 14, trapped leg-before by fast bowler Stuart Broad with just two overs to go in the day.

But Hafeez held the innings together well, smashing nine boundaries and three sixes during his aggressive 155-ball knock as Pakistan seek to avoid squandering a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Pakistan won the second Test in Dubai while the first Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, off-spinner Shoaib Malik took a career best 4-33 as England were bowled out for 306 in their first innings, taking a 72-run lead over Pakistan’s total of 234. James Taylor top-scored with 76.

Pakistan were lucky not to lose Hafeez after Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford gave him caught behind off paceman James Anderson in the fifth over of the innings with the score on four.

But Hafeez, then on two, challenged the decision and got away on referral as television replays showed there was a gap between ball and bat, much to the relief of the Pakistan camp.

Hafeez said he was happy to lead the fightback.

“We needed a good start and I am happy that Ali and I gave that,” said Hafeez. “We need to bat like this tomorrow as well to post a challenging target for England and I am hopeful that we will do that.”

Pakistan were off to a confident start of 101 — only their second 50-plus opening stand in Sharjah — with Hafeez earning the lead by hitting spinner Samit Patel for a four and then taking three runs.

He completed his 13th Test half-century with another boundary off Patel and then hoisted James Anderson for a six and four to post the 100-mark.

Chris Rogers joined a select group of players with a seventh successive Test fifty as Australia made inroads into England’s first innings total on the second day of the Ashes opener in Cardiff on Thursday.

At tea, Australia were 145 for two in reply to England’s 430, a deficit of 285 runs. Veteran opener Rogers was 74 not out and Australia captain Michael Clarke 11 not out.

Rogers missed Australia’s 2-0 series win in the Caribbean with Caribbean and the 37-year-old left-hander has said the Ashes will be his final Test campaign before retirement. Shortly after lunch, England dismissed Australia dangerman David Warner for 17 when the left-handed opener got a thick edge off James Anderson and England captain Alastair Cook held a sharp catch at first slip. Cook, however, left the field minutes later when an edge from Smith dropped short and struck him a painful blow in the groin.

Given England face Australia in a five-Test Ashes series starting in Cardiff on 8 July, it was no great surprise Anderson and Broad were left out of a one-day squad announced shortly after they both featured in a 199-run second Test defeat by New Zealand at Headingley on Tuesday.
Also omitted were top-order batsmen Bell and Gary Ballance, as well as off-spinning all-rounder Moeen Ali, who all featured in the second Test as well. However, national selector James Whitaker insisted none of the players left out had retired from one-day internationals as England looked to revive their fortunes in white-ball cricket following an embarrassing first-round exit at this year’s World Cup where they failed to beat a single Test nation.
“A number of players involved in the recent World Cup including James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell and Stuart Broad have been left of the squad for this series,” said Whitaker.
“It is important to point out that none of these players have been ruled out of playing a role for England in limited overs formats in the future.”
The 14-man squad, again led by Eoin Morgan– England’s captain at the World Cup – contained one uncapped player in Kent batsman Sam Billings.
“This series presents an excellent opportunity to look at players we believe can play a key role for England over the next four years as we build towards the next ICC Cricket World Cup,” said Whitaker.
“We have opted to rest Moeen Ali from this series and he will play cricket for Worcestershire in preparation for the Ashes next month,” the former England batsman added.
The five-match one-day series starts at Edgbaston on June 9