Sri Lanka vs Australia First Test Debate

First topic message reminder :

The Lanka-Aus first test match is underway, on a turning track.
Trent Copland and Australia's latest spinner Nathan Lyon are having their debuts. Kawaja gets a game ahead of Marsh as well.

For Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews is back, and they have left Ajantha Mendis and went for Herath and Randiv in the spin department.
Will Australia turn a corner in their redevelopment process? Will Sri Lanka remain the tiger at home?

worrying for sri lanka awho are meant to be good players of spin, that a normal offspinner walks up and runs through their liner up..

not even a mystery spinner

Watson out first ball...slashing cut caught at gully.

Sri Lanka may have self destroied, but Australia aren't going to give up.
Watson was superb with the ball, but that was a dreadful shot.

aussies in trouble at 9-2

punter out. bat went further than the ball

Guys there is another test going on by the way, Zimbabwe is taking on Pakistan, and they have got off to a decent start.

team 2 down early and only one slip, edge goes straight where 2nd would have been, poor captaincy from dilshan

Who got off to the good start msp... Zimbabwe?

Or Pakistan?

I think these two are showing that you can score runs on this pitch, SL missed a trick by being overly defensive in my view. Australia won't lose from here.

Linebreaker wrote:Who got off to the good start msp... Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe, LB.
74-1 at lunch.

Dilshan doesn't look like propper captaincy material for me. Strange team selection, and moreover, some really strange field placements and bowling choices.
Why is Angelo not getting an extended spel with the ball?

not sure matthews is fully fit yet, he didnt bowl against england cos of that, and in odi's and t20, he came off shortened run up..

I think it's safe to say that Aussie are back.

They are hammering SL more down there than we did at home.

I'd be surprised if we can do that to SL down there next year, though you never know.

trebs... thank you for your good vibes.

We require your special powers at 115/6... but 283 should be enough to bowl at hopefully.

oh i think so.. the pattern of the game says so.

SL struggled horribly didn't they.

Aussie looking good for this one.

sri lanka have no match winning bowlers

Sri Lanka is just finding out the dificulties of a Post-Murali era.
Suraj Randiv was very disappointing.
Mendis, although has been found out to a great extend, would have been a better option.

cant believe greg chappell told huseey to retire, he has been aussie's best batsman for a while now lol

i see hughes failed AGAIN!

msp83 wrote:Sri Lanka is just finding out the dificulties of a Post-Murali era.
Suraj Randiv was very disappointing.
Mendis, although has been found out to a great extend, would have been a better option.

I think you'll find that R%andiv is being employed as the 2nd spinner. His main role is to build pressure so Herath can attack. Has worked so far, between them they have taken 9 wickets.

On a side note, this is the worst pitch I have ever seen. Nathan Lyons is regarded as a promising spinner, but SL made him out to be a hall of famer.

It well know SL are flat track bullies, but now they can't even play against rookie spinners. Pathetic.

if lyon suddenly has a bad game, then aussies have to stick with him now, they cant keep chopping and changing

I totally agree, cf. At the same time if he does well then they shouldn't big him up too much in the press here... as happened yesterday. Just let the guy get established more and let him build his up confidence on the international level.

randiv has had a shocker of a test match

2 down early on. Sanga and Jaya have some hard work ahead.

Khawajla and hughes havent exactly impressed either.

Khawaja unlucky, he was doing well. Hughes hasn't impressed though even with that dodgy lbw decision. How do you think England will go in SL?

i think we will go to sri lanka and win the series

is steve smith out of test reckoning now then?

for now yes... told to work on his game more in domestic cricket.

who do the aussies play after this series?

SA in SA (2) , then NZ (2) at home, India (4) at home

is johnson under pressure for his place from josh hazlewood?

Hazelwood is being talked about but we'll have to wait and see how they go.

Here's the ICC FTP... didn't realise England are playing Pakistan in Jan 2012. Are they playing in UAE? Surely not in Pakistan?

ICC FTP

Johnson just gets Samaraweera to knick one, lol. 63/4 now.

wow.. hammering. you'd think SL could cope with their own conditions.. must be very good bowling here.

Harris is doing OK, trebs.
I think Clarke's captaincy has been good too... mixing up the bowlers and clever field placings. The runs have dried up for SL.

staggered to why sri lanka are struggling so badly, the aussie attack is nothing special

Watch and learn, lol.

i heard rumours of a rift in the aussie camp, but they look like they are happy being in the same side, and playing as a unit

No rift - it's the opposite actually. Did you see Ricky sort of smile the other day? Amazing!

[quote="Linebreaker"]Hazelwood is being talked about but we'll have to wait and see how they go.

Here's the ICC FTP... didn't realise England are playing Pakistan in Jan 2012. Are they playing in UAE? Surely not in Pakistan?


yh the series is being played in the UAE

suprised sri lanka didnt put a nightwatchmen in when samaweera got out, i know matthew did well, but i would have thought that randiv could have gone out as nightwatchmen, and matthews could have started tomorrow

at least this pitch is more intresting then when india played sri lanka!

cf do you remotely even follow cricket? SL vs India in the last two Tests in Galle have produced results. India won in 2008 after Sehwag scored a wonderful 201* and nullified Mendis. 2010 Muali got his 800th Test wicket and SL won by 10 wickets.

With regards to SL vs England, you can't compare what happens in this series, to what might happen in the next series. England will play during March which is the hottest period in SL, the pitches will be even more different.

the sri lankans have been awful, the batsman have been reckless.

Whilst Australia have been very good in this Test, they still need to make a few changes to get back as one of the best sides.

Watson should bat in the middle order, as he has bowled well, but batted poorly in this game. He would be better utilized in the middle order.

Copeland has been decent, but doesn't look overly great or threatening. CA should be giving one of Pattinson/Starc ago.

I don't think Khawaja is as good as he is being made out to be. Shaun Marsh or Callum Ferguson should be ahead of him.

Finally Haddin is clearly clueless against quality spin, favour in he is 30+, he should be replaced straightaway. Paine is currently injured but he should be the w/k.

stuart clark would have been perfect in these condtions, if he hadnt had retired through injury, they need someone like him.

i think your harsh on haddin

100th test win for Ricky Ponting as either captain or player.

congrats to punter on 100 test wins.