England look to hit the heights with pace trio

There may be sound reasons, especially if cloud cover were set to hang over London for the next five days, to hand Jade Dernbach a Test debut. As Andrew Strauss diplomatically pondered the conundrum yesterday, he was happy to issue a public testimony of Dernbach's emerging skills in which England will continue to invest.

In the immediate term, however, it will weigh heavily in favour of a Test return on his home ground for Steven Finn that there is a perception Sri Lanka's diminutive batsmen may be uncomfortable against the bounce generated by him and his fellow 6ft 6in-plus seamers Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett.

"When you are making that decision you've got to look at the opposition you're playing against, the wicket - I suppose the weather forecast as well to a certain extent - and the balance you need to take 20 wickets," said Strauss. "That's what we'll be doing tomorrow."

Dernbach is a close like-for-like replacement for James Anderson, unable to bowl because of his side injury as the hosts bundled Sri Lanka out for 82 in Cardiff on Monday to pull off a remarkable innings victory and go 1-0 up in this three-match npower series. If he does not get his chance here, he may have to vie with a fit-again Anderson for the final Test at the Rose Bowl.

Even so, Strauss has been impressed by what he has seen from the Surrey recruit. "He's a man in form. He did brilliantly on the Lions tour (in the West Indies], he's been bowling well this season, he had some success against Sri Lanka in Derby and he's a swing bowler so he does offer that variety," he said.

"He's a genuine pitch-it-up swing bowler and he's got good skills and variation, so we are quite excited about him. It's good to have him in the squad, and he definitely adds something we haven't had before."

Irrespective of who completes England's pace attack, Strauss will ensure they are under no illusion that they merely have to turn up to roll over Sri Lanka again.

"I always think it's dangerous to think you've got the momentum and you can shove people's noses in it - it's just not the way it works," said the England captain."If you've had a poor performance as a side you come out almost doubly determined to prove you're better than that.

"I go back to Jamaica (in 2009] when we were bowled out for 51 - I think there was a real determination for us to put up a better showing in the next Test.

"We're very conscious that, at Lord's in particular, you've got to work very hard for five days to force a result - and that's what we've got to be willing to do."

It was at this venue five years ago that Sri Lanka produced a Cardiff-in-reverse performance to close out an astounding draw by batting 199 overs to make 537 for nine following on.

Strauss added: "I don't think we can assume anything against Sri Lanka, especially with the quality in their side."

Neither, insists Strauss, should assumptions be made about Kevin Pietersen's ability to overcome his apparent susceptibility to left-arm spin.

When Rangana Herath had him lbw for only three at the SWALEC, it was the 19th time he had lost his wicket to a slow left-armer in Tests - all in the second half of his career.

Strauss said: "He's got out a few times to left-arm spin, so he needs to make sure he addresses that. Test cricket is a game of cat and mouse and any particular weakness you have is exploited. But it is great that he is working on it. He's saying 'Yeah, I need to work hard' - which is what we all need to do, because none of us can stick our heads in the sand and say we're infallible. We have to push on and improve. We always have these things in cricket, because there are so many variables that we come up against.

"It might be any type of bowling or it might be on certain grounds. You think 'oh my record here isn't very good', and then that becomes self-perpetuating. So these things test you mentally, and you have to overcome them."

Sri Lanka will not pick Herath purely for Pietersen's sake, but Strauss' opposite number Tillakaratne Dilshan sees him as his best bet anyway.

"I'm not going to play one spinner just for one particular player," he said. "At the moment Herath is bowling very well, and is my number one option."

Dilshan is convinced, too, that Sri Lanka will not collapse again. "As a batting group, we realise what went wrong and we've prepared very well for the past two days," he added. "They have an advantage with their height. But I think we can manage them; we batted very well in the first innings and, if we do the same thing again, we can get 400 or 500 runs."

Sri Lanka coach Stuart Law is also hoping his players will have put memories of Monday's collapse behind them. "Whichever combo they (England] play will be tough work," Law said. "But we have to come up with better plans on how to attack and defend. Talk is cheap. We can't just keep talking a good game, we've got out to play a good game."

Meanwhile, former all-rounder Andrew Flintoff believes that England will be the world's number one Test team by the end of the summer.Following the three-match series against Sri Lanka, Strauss' side take on the world's current highest-ranked team, India, in a four-Test home series in July and August and Flintoff reckons that, by the end of it all, England will be top of the pile.

The 33-year-old said: "I think it's possibly the first time a realistic ambition. I think end of summer England will be number one. We've shown in the first Test against Sri Lanka, hopefully we can beat them in the next two Tests, then India's going to be the real challenge. It's almost as big as an Ashes series, playing against India. They're number one in the world but, on balance, I think we've got a better team."