Tymal Mills blogs from Dambulla where England Lions are preparing for their second Test against Sri Lanka A.
Things have gone exactly to plan since my last blog in Colombo. We are one-nil up in the series and the mood in the camp is great.
After the first warm up-match we had another in Colombo which allowed those who did not play in the first to get some overs in their legs and stake a claim for selection for the first Test.
It was another professional performance from the lads with excellent hundreds coming from the Yorkshiremen - Lees, Bairstow and Plunkett.
The wicket was much flatter than that in the first match so it was good for our seamers, including myself, to get stuck into the change in conditions. The match ended in a draw on day three and we all felt in a good place for the first Test.
From Colombo we travelled up to the beautiful part of the world that is Kandy.
Some beautiful scenes coming into Dambulla! pic.twitter.com/suiupCB5DZ
— Tymal Mills (@tmills15) February 16, 2014
I was here with the Under-19s back in 2011 and had been looking forward to going back since. We played at the Pallekele International Stadium and all the lads were impressed by it - it is definately one of the most picturesque grounds around.
Personally, I had a few good days training in the nets leading up to the match and was pleased to be selected.
Although I didn't end up taking the amount of wickets I would have liked, I was pleased with how I bowled as part of our four-man pace attack which was led brilliantly by the skipper Chris Woakes who set the tone with the new ball.
It was a hard-fought match that went into the afternoon on day four. We had made all the running and knew that if we stuck in we would get our rewards and that happened following a hostile spell from Liam Plunkett to remove their set batsmen and wrap up the victory shortly after.
After the Test we said goodbye to Moeen Ali, who has been called up the England squad for the West Indies tour and Twenty20 World Cup. We wished him all the best and, although he will be missed from our squad, it gives someone else an opportunity to come in and impress.
We have moved to the more tropical climate of Dambulla where I am now rooming with my Essex team-mate Ben Foakes. We were greeted by a rather large iguana as we were walking to our rooms which was a shock to the system!
Graham Gooch also joins up with us this week to strengthen the Essex contingent which is always nice!
Until next time.