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“It looks pretty dry at this stage, and lots of cracks down the wicket, so it could certainly could take some spin in the first innings as well.”
“We are as prepared as we can be”, Hazlewood said.
“The last four Test matches played here, three teams that have won the toss have chosen to bowl first”.
The man who took 800 Test wickets for Sri Lanka highlighted that he is not the only Sri Lankan to seek coaching opportunities overseas: “These people who are accusing me should go and look in the mirror [and compare] what they are doing to the country and what I am doing”.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that Lakmal, who had recovered from a knee injury he had sustained in England, has hamstring stiffness and that De Silva was hit on a finger while bowling at practices. Much will depend on whether Australia’s bowlers can apply similar pressure to the first innings, and they started well. The way things stand, the visitors should preserve it, beginning with the first Test in Kandy on Tuesday.
“I am really proud of our young team and what we have accomplished so far but there is still more we would like to achieve”.
In reply, the Aussies found the going tough too. “Australia’s winning performances have been exceptional and they thoroughly deserve to be awarded the mace”, said Richardson.
Roshen Silva who had scored heavily at domestic level and averages more than 50 in first-class matches is likely to be handed a test cap, with Lahiru Thirimanne being dropped after some poor performances.
“Professionally it is okay for Murali to coach any foreign team, but the irony is that he is supporting Australia which tried to get him out of cricket”, Sumathipala said.
Australia have hired local spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan as a consultant for the series, well aware of Sri Lanka’s reputation for producing turning pitches. Have they done one hundredth of what I have contributed to cricket in Sri Lanka?
He said he was never seriously approached by Sri Lanka Cricket for a mentoring role ever since he retired in 2011. “I think reverse swing will be a huge factor as well”.
Speaking on the eve of the series, Australia skipper Steve Smith talked about his No.1-ranked team making a strong statement in Kandy against an inexperienced batting line-up who have struggled since the retirements of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
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The Australians put on 80 for the loss of four wickets on the second morning after resuming at 66-2, with Herath slowing the progress when he had Steve Smith (30) stumped to end a 62-run third-wicket partnership with Usman Khawaja.
