Chris Tremlett remains positive on England's chances of forcing a victory despite the rain delays at the Rose Bowl.
Rain fails to dampen England paceman's spirits
Chris Tremlett still believes there is enough time for England to press for victory in the third Test against Sri Lanka - despite only 61.2 overs being bowled on the first two days due to rain.
Between the showers, Tremlett has taken a career-best haul of 6-42 to help reduce Sri Lanka to 177-9 in their first innings.
Rain wiped out the morning session on day two and then returned to preclude any play either after an early tea, but Tremlett was staying upbeat.
"The weather has been unkind, unfortunately, but at the same time the game's moving on," he told
Sky Sports.
"We've got nine wickets here. Hopefully we can clean them up quickly tomorrow and then look to be positive when we bat and try to bowl them out again.
"We want to win the series 2-0."
Special
The match is the inaugural Test to be held at the Rose Bowl, which was Tremlett's home ground for many years before his switch from Hampshire to Surrey in 2009.
He took two wickets on the first day and was thrilled to continue his good form.
"To cap it off with six wickets today is very special," he said.
"I tried to bowl a bit fuller. At the same time, I don't think the Sri Lankans like the ball up around their earholes. I just tried to make the most of the conditions.
"Generally I just felt today I was little bit more consistent and got the rewards.
"Lord's [the second Test] was a little bit disappointing. I wanted to bounce back strong. I'm very happy with six wickets so far in this game and hopefully I can do that again in the second innings."
On England's team spirit, he added: "We like to celebrate each other's successes. We've just had a little toast. It's always nice to do something good and have or team-mates supporting you as well.
"If somebody does well, hits a hundred, or gets a five-for, it's something we celebrate. It's a great team spirit we've got going. When guys do well, it's good that we do that."
Since his move to Surrey, Tremlett has proved wrong those who doubted both his fitness and heart.
"I just think I was a little bit stale and needed a kick up the backside and new motivation. Surrey certainly did that," he said.
"It was almost like being given free will to just be myself. People at Hampshire maybe had a certain perception about me. It was good to get away and start again.
"I had an injury-free year last year as well, which was a big thing.
"[Staying injury-free] has given me a lot of confidence. I go out there and don't even think about getting injured. Perhaps three or four years ago I was almost waiting for 'when's my next injury coming along?"'
He added: "I always had the inner belief, even though people may have thought I didn't, especially when I played in 2007.
"I always had that belief I could get back in the England side.
"I didn't expect it to happen maybe so quickly, but thankfully the Australia tour came around at the right time.
"Those wickets did suit me and so far it's going good but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself."
Praise
England bowling coach David Saker went as far as to liken Tremlett to West Indies great Joel Garner - both of whom stand at 6ft 8in.
"He's got a lot of attributes like Joel Garner, height and good bounce," said Saker.
"It's a big call to compare him with Joel - but with that height and the bounce he does get, he complements Jimmy (Anderson) really well.
"He's been fantastic for us. He needs to keep improving and had some spells at Lord's (in the second Test) that weren't quite right, but he's proven to a lot of people he belongs in Test cricket.
"Guys with height always have a little bit of an advantage, and if you talk to some really good batsmen the bounce of a ball is so important in Test cricket. The taller guys can exploit that."
