Hussain facing the chop

The series remains all-square, and there's everything to play for at the Sinhalese Sports Club. England are back on familiar ground as their three-Test series against Sri Lanka reaches its climax tomorrow (play starts 0430 GMT), and return to the scene of their triumph in 2001 with every reason to believe they can pull off another extraordinary series victory.

After seeing off Muttiah Muralitharan and friends on the two pitches that ought to have suited Sri Lanka's spin attack, England will be delighted that the SSC seems certain to offer more pace and swing to the faster bowlers. With due respect to Chaminda Vaas, that can only be good news for England's seam-based attack, and Michael Vaughan has given every indication that he intends to field a better-balanced side that the one that held out for a draw at Kandy last week.

The dilemma for England, however, is how best to climb through the window of opportunity that their labours have created. After playing with such patience and discipline for two Tests, they will have to tread a fine line between attacking intent and reckless abandon. And with that in mind, they face a tricky decision on which of their seven batsmen should be squeezed out in favour of an extra bowler.

The only two men in line for the chop are Paul Collingwood, who has shown a cool head under fire and would be a reassuring presence at No. 5 if England lose the toss yet again and are forced to bat last, and Nasser Hussain, whose hot-headedness has created the talking point of the series so far. At the start of the series, it would have been unthinkable to enter such a crunch fixture without Hussain, the man who masterminded Sri Lanka's last home defeat in 2001. But times they have a-changed.

"We'll have to decide whether we stick with the great experience of Nasser or take note of how well Paul has batted," said Vaughan. "If you look at his dismissals, Nasser's playing OK, and I always say that you are always only one innings away from a hundred. Nasser was unfortunate to be ill during the first Test, and he just needs some time in the middle."

Hussain's time in the middle may just have run out for this tour, however. He has not been dropped by England since scoring a century against India at Edgbaston in 1996, but his ill-judged verbal assault on Muttiah Muralitharan has left him out on a limb. As England's batsmen and tailenders demonstrated in fending off Murali for 96 overs at Kandy, it was the ability to read him from the pitch - not the lips - that was the key to England's survival.

Hussain's alleged remarks had further implications within the England camp as well, as James Kirtley discovered when his bowling action was brought to the attention of Clive Lloyd after the match. Although Kirtley was eventually cleared, it was an unfortunate moment for the issue of chucking to be brought back onto the agenda.

Kirtley is likely to retain his place tomorrow, on merit as much as through dressing-room solidarity, although the identity of his new-ball partner is less certain. The bold selection would be the fit-again James Anderson, a man who will go for plenty of runs but is the most likely source of unplayable deliveries. But with Andrew Flintoff complaining of a sore back in recent days, England are equally likely to turn to the indefatigable Matthew Hoggard to ensure that Flintoff's workload is as light as possible.

The spin pairing of Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty is unlikely to be altered, despite Batty's relative ineffectiveness at Kandy and the attacking option that Robert Croft could provide. This has as much to do with Sri Lanka's spinners as England's - Batty's excellent displays against Muralitharan have turned him into a key figure in England's lower-middle order, and for all Croft's proficiency with the bat, he cannot possibly make up in net sessions what Batty has learned through time in the middle.

As usual between matches, Murali has spent the last three days with an ice pack strapped to his overworked shoulder, and no amount of positive spin from the Sri Lankan camp can disguise the fact that he is tired. He has already whirled his way through 164 overs this series, exactly twice as many as the next-busiest Sri Lankan, Kumar Dharmasena, and he was noticeably less effective in England's second innings at Kandy.

With that in mind, Sri Lanka are considering sending for the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was a success on the recent A tours of South Africa and India. Alternatively they may prefer to shuffle their reserves, which would mean recalling Upul Chandana in place of Dharmasena, and the fit-again Dilhara Fernando, to provide some extra new-ball firepower at the expense of his underused namesake, Dinusha.

Whichever way you look at it, England are the team who hold the psychological high ground ahead of the third Test, even if they have yet to hold the upper hand in any of the matches to date. John Dyson, a coach whose mantra of positive play seems entirely at odds with the negativity of his captain, Hashan Tillakaratne, attempted to rock England's boat yesterday with an astonishing tirade against their defensive approach in Kandy. But his words have been laughed off by England.

Graham Thorpe, the man who secured the victory in 2001, was quick to respond. "We have got them under psychological pressure," he claimed. "If we hadn't been able to bowl them out on a green seamer on the final day in England, we would be very disappointed. I can't see that it is any different for them." Thorpe's contributions at the SSC last time around were a pair of undefeated masterclasses on a turning, bouncing track, including the single finest century of his career. A repeat performance over the next few days would set England up for a very merry Christmas indeed.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Marvan Atapattu, 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Upul Chandana, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

England (possible): 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Graham Thorpe, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Gareth Batty, 9 Ashley Giles, 10 James Kirtley, 11 James Anderson.