None of which came as any surprise to Hussain and company, who began preparing for this examination of their staying power by making regular visits to the sauna room when still back at home.
What they could ill afford today was for the captain to lose what may be a crucial toss. Both camps predicted this pitch would be flat for a day or two before taking increasing turn. Their forecast was spot on in the first instance and if it is equally accurate with regard to the second part then England will soon face an almighty task against Muttiah Muralitharan.
The one consolation for Hussain was that his bowlers refused to let Sri Lanka's dashing batsmen off the leash.
Andy Caddick, whose place had been in doubt when England thought about playing seven specialist batsmen, proved the most economical of all. The Somerset seamer conceded 13 runs from his 16 overs.
He failed to take a wicket, though, and his temper started to fray right at the end when he became involved in a less than friendly debate with de Silva. Indian umpire AV Jayaprakask intervened and was still discussing the matter with Hussain as the players left the field.
Darren Gough gained England's solitary success of the morning. His dismissal of home captain Sanath Jayasuriya could not have been more clear-cut, with the fast bowler's Yorkshire colleague, Craig White, holding a stinging catch in the gulley
But an otherwise quiet couple of hours of cat and mouse cricket burst into life when Giles was denied Atapattu's wicket half an hour before lunch.
Atapattu, having taken 18 overs to reach double figures, tried to turn the left-armer to leg and then stood his ground as the ball lobbed gently into Hick's hands at second slip.
England seemed convinced that the opener had inside edged the delivery on to his pad, so much so that Hick threw the ball away in his excitement.
But Sri Lankan umpire Peter Manuel remained impassive - and then signalled a leg bye when Atapattu cheekily took advantage of the loose ball.
England were briefly crestfallen and it needed Robert Croft to end a second-wicket stand of 92 in somewhat fortunate circumstances.
The fourth ball of his ninth over brough Kumar Sangakkara skipping down the pitch and his full-blooded drive sped straight to White at short extra-cover.
Therafter, though, it was a case of sheer hard graft as Atapattu and de Silva chiselled out their stand of 111, with power to add.
Graham Gooch and Allan Border, former Ashes captains and respective highest Test run scorers for England and Australia, will go head-to-head once again when they lead out two 'masters' teams at Trent Bridge on 1 July.
Pakistan beat New Zealand by 28 runs in Wellington to take a 2-1 lead in their five-match limited overs series. Chasing a target of 244, the Kiwis were dismissed for 215, with Saqlain Mushtaq and Wasim Akram claiming three wickets each.
