At close of play yesterday, with three days gone, England stood on the verge of a victory in the second Test that would level the series at one match each and set up a potential humdinger in the final match in Colombo next week. It ought, should it come, to be a great triumph, but the match is leaving the sourest taste.

Games of cricket at international level are no place for the fainthearted, but by last night this match, in which players, just as they had done in the first Test in Galle, unashamedly have sought to work over a weak umpire as ruthlessly as conmen flogging dodgy deals to pensioners, had degenerated to a level of genuine acrimony that, thank goodness, is rarely to be found in the sport.

Yesterday's action featured the Sri Lankan captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, having been victim of a shocking injustice, storming from the crease after a delay in which it seemed he might refuse to go, throwing his batting helmet at an advertising board, and gesticulating to a baying crowd of England supporters.

There was also the sight of Mike Atherton clearly upset by a running and visible spat with Kumar Sangakkara, that had its roots in Galle where the wicketkeeper had claimed a catch that clearly bounced, earnestly asking umpire Rudi Koertzen to intervene before he lost his cool. It was all an unedifying spectacle.

So was the behaviour of many of the England supporters who were in the ground, most particularly those in the best seats in the grandstand who appear to assume that, because of what happened in Galle, every disputatious decision involves Sri Lankans cheating England. The chanting at Jayasuriya, whatever the wrongs of his actions, was a disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves.

The broad facts of the game are that England, 249 for five overnight and still 48 adrift of Sri Lanka on first innings, managed, through Alec Stewart's diligence and determination, Craig White's developing flair and competitive edge, and, at the end, an inspirational and what may prove match-winning last wicket stand of 41 between the excellent Robert Croft and Darren Gough, to extend that to 387 before they were all out at tea, a lead of 90.

It left Sri Lanka 31 overs to bat, and by the close they had been pushed to the edge first of all by Gough and Andy Caddick with the new ball, and then by White and Croft, leaving them lurching at 98 for six with just Kumar Sangakkara, unbeaten on 47, of the recognised batsmen remaining.

But Hussain and his men know that just as they were the victims of Sri Lankan excess and Peter Manuel's dreadful umpiring in Galle, then they have benefited every bit as much from a desperate display from the home umpire, BC Cooray, standing in his 21st match.

He now looks shot to pieces, battered down by the relentless pressure placed on him by the players of both sides and the cruel dissection and exposure that comes from television analysis. By even a reasonable count, the incorrect decisions in this match have gone eight to one in favour of England, all but the first by Cooray.