After the match in Pallekele, the second Test will be held in Galle from August 4-8 and the third will be in Colombo from August 13-17.
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Following a dispiriting tour of England and amid a surfeit of injuries to Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers, Mathews is set to face a searching examination from the No. 1-ranked Australians, who have often worked diligently to undermine the authority of opposition captains by limiting their capacity to perform on the field.
Opener Warner broke his left index finger during a 50-over tri-series with West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean.
Australia’s bowling consultant, Sri Lankan former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan (R) speaks with Australian cricketer Stephen O’Keefe (L) during a practice session at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele on July 23, 2016. “Either you run away from reality or stay and get your team back to winning ways”.
“Your patience comes with hitting your four-balls, your boundary balls”.
“I haven’t really spoken to the medical staff, they usually come up to me if there is some sort of issue”. We know that’s what wins games in these conditions.
“The challenge for us is about batting long periods of time”.
“He’s been batting the last couple of days so I can’t see a problem”, said Lehmann. But the element of my game is to try to score runs.
“I will always bowl my own way and if it means bowling a few yorkers here and there which I probably normally do anyway”.
Talking about his strategy as an opening batsman playing in Sri Lanka, Warner said patience will be the key for them. Since Australia’s last tour here in 2011, Sri Lanka’s two most prolific batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have both retired and the team have been sliding down the Test rankings.
Marsh, who was a part of Australia’s 15-man squad that arrived in Kandy to finalise their preparation for the first Test, has been struggling with the bat in recent times, especially against local off-spinner Shehan Jayasuriya. “With stamina likely to play as significant a role as skill”, he pointed out.
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David Warner says the fittest team will probably be the winners.
