England spinner Graeme Swann has called Dilruwan Perera a "cheat" after he refused to walk in a warm-up game.

Andy Flower's men were left incensed when Sri Lankan batsman did not walk after being caught behind off bowling from James Anderson.

Swann admitted that the players may have got a bit close to the bone with their criticism of Perera but insisted that it was entirely justified.

"It was very difficult to take because it was so blatantly out," said Swann. "The thing that annoyed the players on the field and annoyed me was that the umpire was unsighted but the batsman stood there knowing 100 percent that he was out and chose to cheat in my view.

"I think he then opened himself up to the level of abuse that was coming to him. To be honest, I'm glad Straussy was there because I'm sure it would have gone further than that had we not had someone with a bit of intelligence and nous to calm things down.

"It was just cheating in my view but we live in an age where cheating is accepted. Jimmy wasn't very happy because he'd had a wicket robbed off him, Straussy was miffed that his integrity was questioned and I wanted to kill the batsman because he was cheating. He was stood right next to me with a smug look on his face."

England went on to win the game against the Sri Lanka Board XI in Columbo by an innings and 15 runs.