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Forget England and South Africa, Australia have the best Test attack

Australia have a great pace attack - but they didn't stand up against India. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
27th July, 2016
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2199 Reads

Australia now own the best bowling attack in Test cricket as they underlined yesterday, skittling Sri Lanka on day one of the first Test in Kandy.

While South Africa and England are a match for Australia in the pace stakes, both those teams have a paucity of spin options. Australia, meanwhile, have a wonderfully well-rounded attack thanks to the reliability and ever-increasing potency of off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

After Australia’s brilliant new ball pair of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc scythed through the top order, Lyon put paid to any potential Sri Lankan fightback. Operating with a tantalising loop, the tweaker snared 3-0 in the space of seven balls after lunch.

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There was no trickery or exorbitant turn from Lyon, just guile and control. After tossing up a few deliveries, he speared in a flatter ball which trapped batsman Dhananjaya de Silva on the crease.

The quicker pace, coupled with Lyon’s trademark lift off the deck, undid de Silva and he popped a tame catch to bat-pad.

The length was in that perfect zone where a batsman knows not whether to advance or retreat, and so often does neither. It was this same befuddling length which brought Lyon his second wicket two balls later.

Dilruwan Perera was caught in two minds and made the mistake of playing back. The ball hurried on to him, rapping his pads plumb in front. Lyon signed off by castling left-handed strokemaker Kusal Perera. The Sri Lankan saw the ball looping up outside off and so shaped to leave the ball.

But he did not take into account the generous drift Lyon typically earns, thanks to the heavy revs he imparts on his deliveries. The ball curved back in, landed just outside off and skidded on to clip the stumps.

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The first day Kandy pitch was by no means a spinner’s wet dream. Indeed the Sri Lankan tweakers barely made the ball turn an inch. Yet Lyon got his deliveries to grip and bounce, finishing with 3-12.

With 198 wickets to his name, he is now a genuine world-class cricketer. The 2014 home series against India was the turning point for Lyon. From the start of that summer he has taken 83 wickets at an average of 27 from just 20 Tests – Australia’s leading wicket taker in that period.

His consistency in that time has been outstanding. In 18 of those 20 Tests he has taken at least three wickets. The likes of England, South Africa and New Zealand, each of whom have skilled pacemen, would kill for a spinner the quality of Lyon.

Instead they are stuck with the likes of Moeen Ali, Dane Piedt and Mark Craig, respectively, none of whom are Test-standard spinners. Australia also will be buoyed by the performances of backup tweaker Steve O’Keefe.

The left armer bowled beautifully yesterday after dominating in Australia’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka XI, snatching 10-64 to go with an unbeaten knock of 78. So confident was Steve Smith in the ability of O’Keefe that he threw him the ball after just eight overs yesterday.

Where O’Keefe bowled too flat on Test debut in the UAE two years ago, at Kandy he regularly achieved a teasing arc. It was in the flight that he defeated Sri Lanka’s best batsman, skipper Angelo Mathews, inducing an edge to slip.

O’Keefe later finished the Sri Lankan innings in similar fashion. Admittedly, his spell of 10.2 overs was a very limited sample size. But he looked more confident and natural in his action than he had in his first two Tests. If he can bowl like this in India in February and March, then he and Lyon may well enable Australia to compete with the hosts in that four-Test series.

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For now, however, Australia have a Test and series to win in Sri Lanka. Their bowlers have put them in a commanding position but Sri Lanka’s trio of spinners should offer a robust challenge to the batsmen tomorrow.

Australia started in shaky fashion, particularly against Herath. Although he barely got a single ball to turn, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja played Herath as if he was bowling hand grenades. Australia could have been 3-14 when Khawaja played inside the line of a Herath delivery and edged between the keeper and slip.

Early in his innings, the elegant left hander resorted to his old, unsuccessful mode of playing spin, staying rooted to the crease and looking to nudge singles square of the wicket.

It was not until he began to play more frequently off the front foot, using the sweep shot well, that Khawaja looked at ease against the slow men.

Sri Lanka will have seen enough panic from the Australian batsmen in their play against spin to feel confident of dismissing them cheaply tomorrow. The key will be fleet-footed Aussie captain Steve Smith, who looked by far the most assured batsman against spin on day one.

If he and Khawaja can negotiate the first hour tomorrow, Australia will be in prime position to push for a crushing victory. But there remains a small window of opportunity for Sri Lanka to burst back into this Test, most likely on the back of Herath.

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