A Test series 3-0 whitewash at the hands of a spirited Sri lanka side, has made former Australia opener Matthew Hayden to blame a packed global schedule for Australia’s loss.
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Tomorrow’s match with Australia will be his final one-day worldwide, with Sri Lanka Cricket’s President Thilanga Sumathipala stating the game in Dambulla will be dedicated to Dilshan.
Mahela Jayawardene wondered on Twitter whether previous Australia captains would have left a tour early, as Steven Smith has done. The decision to fly Smith home to rest ahead of a busy upcoming schedule has been met with plenty of criticism. It does, though, provide an opportunity to test the leadership credentials of Warner, who has never captained Australia in any format. And now, he’s doing it for the last time – in ODI cricket, at least.
“We planned that for a long time and he (Smith) took some convincing, there’s no doubt about that”.
That Australia (108 points) narrowly sit behind India (110) and the freshly crowned Pakistan (111 points) means they have a chance to quickly vault up the Test rankings but Pakistan and South Africa shape as significant challenges this summer, even though the Proteas have slipped to seventh.
David Warner is likely to induce some “competitive edge” into the Australian side. His most recent captaincy experience came in the 2016 IPL, where he led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the title and was second only to Virat Kohli on the tournament’s run charts. However, Sri Lanka roared back in the second match at the same venue – R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo – coasting to an 82-run victory. Like 18-year old batsman Avishka Fernando, who was named in the squad at the start of the series, Kumara has played no senior cricket at all.
According to media reports, the former captain was persuaded to retire as Sri Lanka build a new team under Angelo Mathews with an eye on the 2019 World Cup. A reliable fielder with a safe pair of hands, Dilshan was Sri Lanka’s go-to man in the shorter formats of the game for more than a decade.
There is hope for the visitors, however, with the Dambulla wicket historically less favourable to spin. After dismissing David Warner during Australia’s unsuccessful run chase, all-rounder Perera used language and displayed actions which could have provoked a reaction from the Australia opener, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.
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“I think he deserves a break, whether or not it was during the series or before the series”. “It is going to very, very tough with the scheduling these days to play all three forms and every single game possible”.
