Warne-Muralitharan Trophy 2019: Preview

Touring Australia has always been a challenging experience for most teams, especially Asian ones. But the decline in Australian batting standards coupled with the absence of their two reliable batsmen, David Warner, and Steve Smith, has made them more vulnerable than ever before to visiting sides.

This vulnerability was turned into a defeat for the home side by the Indians in the 4-match Test series that ended earlier this month. But even this weakened Australian side may be too much at home for a Sri Lankan team that has been suffering setbacks after setbacks, home and away, for the last couple of years.

The home side have to regain some pride after their disastrous show against India and they have a great opportunity against the emerald islanders. The visitors have always struggled in Australia and suffered a whitewash even on their last tour to the country in 2012-13.

Australia clearly start as favourites. But if they fail to beat Sri Lanka at home it would plunge their cricket into a deeper crisis then anything they have faced before. The tourists, on the other hand, have nothing to lose really after suffering a home whitewash against England. But a spirited show, even one drawn match, would be a big boost for the sagging spirits for their fans.

Let’s preview this series and examine the main points that will draw our attention in this contest.

Road to Ashes

This series would set the tone for Australia's journey towards the Ashes series later this year

Now that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contest is over and the record of never having lost a series to an Asian side at home taken away, there is only thing that is occupying the minds of Australian cricketing fraternity as far as Test cricket is concerned – The Ashes.

Set to be held later this year in England, it would be a tough challenge for Australia to retain the urn. While Smith and Warner would be back to provide much-needed strength to the batting line-up, there are many spots yet to be filled and players to be found for the Ashes.

This series would be a trial for many players to prove themselves worthy of retaining their places for the big contest against England. Selectors will look to identify the contours of the team that would travel to England.

Time for Australian Bowlers to Redeem Themselves

Mitchell Starc's struggle in recent times has become a talking point

About a year ago, the Australian bowling attack was considered as one of the best, if not the best, in the world. But the series against India completely shattered that image. The Aussie bowlers were made to appear embarrassingly toothless on pitches where Indian bowlers were pummeling their batsmen.

While a good outing against Sri Lanka wouldn’t fully restore their former reputation, it would prevent further damage. The bowler most under pressure is Mitchell Starc. Having been renowned as a fierce and dangerous pace bowler, his performances in the last few matches have been ordinary and led to criticism from even the great Shane Warne.

Search for Dependable Batsmen

Matt Renshaw has been brought back into the team along with Joe Burns

Australia’s batting woes can be understood with the stark fact that in the recently-concluded series against India, the highest individual score registered by a batsman from the home team was 79. This has led to great concern about the strength and quality of Australia’s batsmen.

As a result, the selectors have decided to take some bold decisions. They have got rid of the mercurial Shaun Marsh after his inconsistency led his team down for the umpteenth time. His brother too has been axed for lack of impact. Peter Handscomb, who has been around for some time, was also dropped from the side.

To fill their places, Will Pucovski, 20-year-old batsmen, has been picked alongside returning players like Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns. Pucovski is a talented player picked from the Sheffield Shield with the hope of him blooming into a successful batsman. The other two players have been tried by Australia in turns to fill the spot left vacant by Chris Roger’s retirement in 2015 – that of the opener alongside David Warner.

Both Renshaw and Burns are openers but with Marcus Harris having shown some ability in the India series, he is most likely to pair Warner when the latter returns from his ban. But the no. 3 spot also seeks an occupant. While Marnus Labushagne may retain that spot after a decent effort against India in the final Test, Renshaw and Burns are more likely to be tried for that position.

Sri Lanka’s Batting

The good form of Kusal Mendis and Angelo Matthews gives Sri Lanka hope

As odd as this may sound, Sri Lankan batting is actually looking better than it did some time ago. The reason is the return to form of Angelo Mathews. After suffering a lean patch some time ago, he seems to have rediscovered his mojo and has been scoring runs consistently.

This has coincided with the rise in fortunes of Kusal Mendis. The highly-talented young batsman was temporarily dropped from the team to give him time for recovering his lost form. Since his comeback, he has been outstanding.

But these two would need some support and the most likely quarter from where it could come is Dinesh Chandimal. The captain is undoubtedly a quality batsman who showed his talent even on the last tour to the country and now, is expected to score some tough runs.

Another player who was in splendid form last year is Dimuth Karunaratne. He too played a good knock on the last tour to this country and is now one of his team's most important batsmen.

Those who need to prove themselves a little more are Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva and Niroshan Dickwella. De Silva’s hundred in a match-saving effort against India excited many fans but he needs more consistency to become a top batsman. Roshan Silva, on the other hand, is still looking for that breakthrough innings that would establish him firmly in Test cricket.

Dickwella, the most experienced of the three, is a terrifically exciting stroke-player who hasn’t copied his teammate Kushal Perera’s lead in just being a player of cameos. He has, instead, on many occasions played very substantial innings but seems unwilling to play in any other style than his usual aggressive flair. That could both be an asset or liability.

Sri Lanka’s Bowling

Lahiru Kumara could be the most potent bowler in Sri Lanka's squad

The bowling department of Sri Lanka looks quite weak, even more so due to the departure of Rangana Herath last year. In the 2012-13 series, Herath emerged as the one finger spinner of this generation who made a big impact in Australian conditions.

In his absence, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan will have the spin-bowling duties. Perera is likely to have a hard time owing to the difficulties Australian conditions present to finger spinners. On top of that, his performance on the tour of New Zealand doesn’t give any indication that he is likely to buck the trend of off-spinners struggling down under.

Sandakan may well be preferred on count of him being a wrist spinner. His case is further strengthened by the performance of fellow chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav in the Sydney Test earlier this month. Sandakan may well be a surprise performer in this series.

In the pace bowling sphere, Sri Lanka have brought along the usual faces that have been with or around the team for the last year or so. Among them, the most potent seems to be Lahiru Kumara. He is physically strong and bowled impressively on the team’s tour of West Indies last year. On bouncy pitches, he could be very effective with his ability to get the ball to rise inconveniently at times.

But if there is some greenery on the tracks, Suranga Lakmal would come into play big time. He becomes twice the bowler he normally is on such pitches. Other bowlers – Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha and Dushmantha Chameera haven’t done anything big yet on the Test to cause worry for the Australians.