Australia's fortunes turn on bowling choices ahead of first Test in Sri Lanka
Australian Test teams have had a shift in their relationship with Sri Lanka, a country they tour rarely but for a long time toured with success. In five trips from 1983 to 2011, the visitors only lost one Test, which was enough to decide their only series loss after the second and third matches were heavily washed out.
But in 2016 a pretty handy Australian side got whitewashed 3-0, after first dropping the ascendancy in a remarkable turnaround in Pallekele. Then in a shorter series in 2022, after a sizeable win on a surface that spun big, Australia got pummelled by an innings in the second match, while the country they were visiting was in upheaval with massed crowds on the streets causing the popular overthrow of a broken government.
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The political situation and national finances of Sri Lanka have eased a little, but its cricket administrators still make an efficiency by concentrating Tests in Galle. In the series starting this Wednesday, both matches will be played there, as they were the last time Australia visited. It suits the home team: since that Australia loss, they've dropped one other game at the ground but have won six. Galle is a not a place for draws anymore; the most recent was in 2013, which was 25 matches ago.
Prabath Jayasuriya, a left-arm spinner who stepped up to Tests from a humble Colombo club cricket pedigree at the age of 31, has enjoyed his trips down the coast more than anyone. Eight matches there, eight five-wicket bags, twice going on to take ten in the match. That's eight matches out of a career totalling 18, while 71 of his 107 wickets have come at that ground. Four or five more matches at his rate and he would catch Rangana Herath and Muttiah Muralitharan to be Sri Lanka's premier Galle specialist.
That should give an indication that it's a handy ground for spin. Sri Lanka's squad also has Jeffrey Vandersay's leg-breaks, off-breaks from Nishan Pereis and Dhananjaya da Silva, left-arm spin from Sonal Dinusha, and potentially finger spin from either hand via Kamindu Mendis. But with four seamers plus Angelo Mathews also available, they have options for all conditions.
This is what Australia will have to combat. Starting with a curious squad, discarding older players with subcontinent pedigree such as Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell in favour of regeneration candidates Nathan McSweeney, Sam Konstas, and Cooper Connolly, it is not credible to argue that Australia would have picked this squad had a World Test Championship spot been at stake. But now that the starting line is in view, the approach has become more serious.
For starters, stand-in captain Steve Smith has confirmed that Travis Head will open the batting, instituting the plan that has been pending since Head's marauding holiday up the order in India in 2023. That means Konstas will be pushed out, though whether from opening or from the XI altogether remains to be seen.
Marnus Labuschagne and Smith are a lock at three and four, Beau Webster at six, which leaves only No5 to be filled. So, Konstas, out of position and with no Asian experience? McSweeney, likewise on the latter, but a middle-order bat at home? Connolly, after four first-class matches? Or most attractively, Josh Inglis, who played so well in India during the World Cup and who has shown the temperament and adaptability to be a specialist bat even while Alex Carey takes the gloves? It is an oddity that Inglis looks the most experienced and credentialled candidate but it is the one yet to make a Test debut.
The bowling makeup has as many questions. Webster got picked in Sydney as a seaming all-rounder and could share the new ball, but Australia usually like at least two specialist quicks, so Scott Boland is a strong chance to start with Mitchell Starc. Webster used to bowl off-spin, which might be his more likely second task. With him plus part-time options in Labuschagne and Smith, the case for McSweeney or Connolly, who both bowl a little, recedes further.
Specialist spin will be led by Nathan Lyon, backed up by either Todd Murphy, Matt Kuhnemann, or both if Boland makes way. If two spinners, you would guess that selectors would prefer Kuhnemann's left-arm variety to having two off-break bowlers, but Murphy was so good during his first foray in India that he might force that choice. Having both play will depend on a last-minute pitch inspection the morning of the game.
Whatever the configuration, it will suddenly be a very different task to taking on India during the home summer. No Pat Cummins, resting an injury and welcoming a new baby. No Josh Hazlewood, still on the recovery roster as well. And possibly no Konstas, flavour of the month in Australia after his Boxing Day heist, but perhaps not the right ingredient for a very different subcontinental dish. The challenge is for this team to take results back to some time before 2011, while building a side that is starting to look to the future.
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