Cricket: Losing was like real hammer blow to us.

Byline: By RICHARD GIBSON

MATT PRIOR admits England's narrow failure to stave off defeat against Sri Lanka in Kandy was heart-breaking.

Wicketkeeper Prior and Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell spent two-and-a-half hours of defiance together at Asgiriya to keep up hopes of returning to Colombo with the series at 0-0.

But they both fell in the space of three deliveries from master off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan during a tense final session, a double blow which saw English hopes nosedive.

Murali had to wait until his 32nd over of the innings and for the hardness of the second new ball to make his first contribution of the final innings - foxing Prior with a doosra.

"A lot of hard work went into it," said Sussex's Prior. "To get so close and just fall short at the end was fairly heart-breaking.

"We knew that was the stage that we had to get through and we were literally five overs away from saving that game.

"Murali is a class act, that is why he has broken the world record and you have to also face the fact he is going to bowl you a jaffa every now and again.

"There are only so many you can keep out and he bowled a couple of good deliveries to us two."

Bell, with whom Prior put on 109, also had his stumps rearranged by Murali, whose disguise of delivery has been key to his rise to be number one wicket-taker.

"When it left his hand I thought it was the off-spinner but looking back at replays it was a doosra," added Prior. "Everyone has their own sort of techniques of trying to pick him whether it be the wrist or the ball in the air.

"But he has got such a quick wrist it is quite tricky to see any variance.

"Then you look for the flight of the ball in the air, whether it is slower or quicker, and sometimes you can actually see the seam coming down.

"The last resort is watching it dance off the pitch but it's a bit late by then."

England's preparation for the spin challenge has been thorough, including batting practice on the dustiest pieces of ground around the net area, in a bid to simulate variations in bounce.

"One of the things the guys have been using is finding the worst surface you can possibly find and throw very quick off-spinners and leg-spinners on to that surface and finding a way to survive," Prior explained. "On a surface like that the ball could go into you, away from you, over your head, under your feet, whatever, and you have to find a way of surviving.

"You try to build up the worst-case scenario. Being in that position when it comes to the day and you have to do it in a Test match hopefully it feels a bit easier."

Matthew Hoggard, the last man out, remains a doubt for the second Test on Sunday despite his back injury displaying no bad reaction to the four-hour bus trip from Sri Lanka's hill country.

Sri Lanka's in-form Kumar Sangakkara, now officially the number-one ranked batsman in Tests after deposing Ricky Ponting, views Hoggard as England's biggest threat.

Nevertheless, not even Hoggard could dislocate Sangakkara's recent impressive scores. Both his dismissals were from shots out of the middle of the bat.

"When a guy is in a purple patch sometimes it does look almost impossible to get him out but we know with cricket that things turn around so quickly," insisted Prior. "One great bit of bowling, one loose shot and things turn around."

CAPTION(S):

Matt Prior is hit by a delivery from Dilhara Fernando during the first Test in Kandy