Cricket: White-hot Craig

CRAIG White provided England with another demonstration of his value to the side with a marathon innings to put them in control of their final warm-up match before thr first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle next Thursday.

Due to rest for this four-day match against a Board President's XI, White was denied the break by a calf injury to Graeme Hick.

But his unscheduled appearance enabled White to give further evidence of his growing stature within the England set-up - only a year since he flew into Johannesburg as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff in the one-day squad.

White hit an unbeaten 85 spanning nearly five hours and guided the tourists into a 165-run lead when bad light ended play 20 minutes prematurely.

"He's probably at the top of his game at the moment," stressed admiring team-mate Michael Atherton. "You can see from the way he comes in and takes on the spinners from the word go that he is batting like a man who feeling good about his game.

"He feels a key part of the team, which he is because he is in the linchpin position at number seven and third seamer."

Atherton himself went on to make 85, while Graham Thorpe provided further encouragement for the Test series by scoring his first half- century of the tour before becoming the second victim for left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandartille.

SRI LANKA BOARD PRESIDENT'S XI. First Inns: 253 (Bandaratilleke 73, Kulatunga 54, Pushpakumara 52).

ENGLAND. First Inns: 418-7 (White 85 no, Atherton 85, Thorpe 57).

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