FOR the second week in a row Alex Hales came up short of his first Test century, but that has not put a dent in his confidence as he looks to establish himself on the international stage.

The Middlesex batsman looked on course for hitting the 100 mark at Chester-le-Street when he cruised along to 83 runs off 145 balls on a decent wicket under grey skies against the Sri Lankans.

But in the subsequent ball that followed him smashing Milinda Siriwardana for six, he was caught out looking for a further boundary when he edged the same bowler to Angelo Mathews; ending a 93 run partnership with Joe Root.

It was three short of his Headingley total in the first Test trouncing of the tourists and his second highest total from his six appearances for his country in the whites, but that could not hide his disappointment.

Hales said: “I was frustrated as an opener, if you do the hard yards then you want to get the hundreds. There will be times when you get single figures out there so you do want to get on there and make the most of the chances you get to get the big scores.

“Hopefully I can keep going in the rest of the series. The ball I hit for six, it got tossed up and I figured it was the safe option. The second was short and a little wide, so I tried to lamp it for four, but I should have taken the single. You live and learn.”

Hales turned 27 in January so he could still have plenty years on the international stage if he can build on the progress he has shown so far.

He said: “It was only a couple of games ago when I was averaging 70 and I was under threat but I still have a lot to prove, hopefully those spots are falling to me if I keep going like this.

“It was a sign of the conditions really how I played. Headingley was tough to play any shots on the front foot, but you got decent value of the front and back here.

“It was better batting conditions. I think I am growing in confidence too. I am improving every day as a red ball cricketer and hopefully I can do that for the rest of the summer.”

There was a low crowd inside the Emirates Riverside on a dry day, although the numbers coming through the gates are expected to rise over the weekend with favourable weather forecasted.

England will resume this morning on 310/6, with Moeen Ali (28) and Chris Woakes (8) looking to continue to frustrate Sri Lanka who are looking to avoid consecutive defeats in the series.

But Sri Lanka looked much improved, particularly their fielding with Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Hales, Root and James Vince all falling to brilliant catches.

Hales said: “Their catching was outstanding starting with Cook, then mine and Vince’s. Fair play to them.

“It was a combination of surprise, frustration and anger when I got caught. I was disappointed to get out in the 80s again. I lost my shape again. You look forward to the second innings.”

That is exactly what captain Cook will have to do after falling five runs short of becoming the first English batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs, leaving Hales to kick on until after lunch.

Hales, knowing Cook won the toss and elected to bat first, said: “From the first or second over I thought it was a pretty good pitch. There was a bit of invariable bounce, batting first should come in to our favour later in the game.

“I knew we had good players to come in. I was confident. We had pretty good partnerships. I got one with Root, so did Vince, the guys contributed, the first hour tomorrow or so, if we can come through unscathed, then hopefully we can come through again.

“We have probably shaded it so far, with guys who have had a couple of starts who could have had bigger scores. The first couple of hours will be important on day two and if we can get to 450 on this sort of pitch then that would be good for us.”