Sri Lanka’s mission to the Southern hemisphere appears to be on a tragic course if the results in New Zealand are any indication.
They left empty-handed after a winless tour in all formats and life for them appears bleaker as they take on an Australian team smarting from a historic whitewash at home at the hands of the high riding Indians.
While Sri Lanka’s aspirations are more in hope of improvement due to the immaturity in the current squad, the Kiwis and Aussies are proud defenders at home and are uncompromising against all-comers in battle.
The Sri Lankans feature in their first Pink ball Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on February 24 before travelling to Manuka Oval in Canberra for their final encounter which is incidentally the first Test in the Australian Capital.
New Zealand showed the Islanders no mercy with crushing wins in the Tests and shorter formats of the game although Sri Lanka battled valiantly in the one-dayers despite losing all of them. Rain saved them from total demolition in the second Test after New Zealand went on a leather hunt against a hapless Sri Lanka attack which leaked more runs than any other team that has toured this part of the world before.
Sri Lanka’s batting except for Angelo Matthews and opener Dimuth Karunaratne found little answer to New Zealand’s experienced pace attack led by Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who tore the heart out of a weak-kneed effort by the rest and bad shot selection from experienced campaigners such as skipper Dinesh Chandimal who should realistically be finding a question mark over his selection for the rest of the tour.
Compounding an already dire situation is the loss of the only shining light on the Kiwi leg of the tour, former skipper Angelo Matthews who once again succumbed to hamstring issues which have plagued him in the recent past. Matthews ended the New Zealand Tests as the highest run scorer being dismissed only once.
There was also much speculation among the one-day squad who are reported to have indulged in some in-fighting causing a rift within. It is a definite recipe for disaster particularly when the combatants are among the most experienced in the squad. Lasith Malinga and Tissara Perera were the standouts for Sri Lanka in a winless effort but they have got to find a way to train their focus on the opposition and not on themselves.
Two Tests against Australia will define who has benefited from the experience against New Zealand and for Chandika Hathurusinghe, who made his mark as respected coach for New South Wales before taking Bangladesh to greater heights this leg of the tour will be an acid test of his ability in a role, he has yet to deliver on lofty expectations.
Hathurusinghe is currently under the pump to prove that Sri Lanka’s investment in him is justified as he faces heavy criticism on social media from knowledgeable critics who label him a financial disaster alongside his Australian counterpart Asanka Gurusinha, who controls the direction of the Sri Lankan attempt to resurrect the team.
From the experience in New Zealand, Sri Lanka will need to focus on their handling of the bouncer barrage they will face from the quicker Australian attack led by Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Jhye Richardson, the latter replacing injured Josh Hazlewood, who made life uncomfortable for the Indians before they were subjected to the return fire from India who also possess a potent attack led by Jasprit Burmah, Ishant Sharma and Mohamed Shami.
By now the New Zealand experience would have given them some degree of conditioning to the bouncier and more lively tracks compared to those found on the Asian sub-continent and Sri Lankan fans in this part of the world are anticipating a backs-to-the-wall effort from the team as they desperately struggle to re-establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Their journey ahead is as daunting as they travel to South Africa to take on the Proteas who are also an uncompromising prospect. But the experience they gain on the Southern Hemisphere sojourn will be invaluable particularly for some of the younger members as they toughen up for their careers in the future.
Nuwan Ranasinghe
Roar Pro
Yeah I agree the bounce will cause big issues plus they'll be mentally demoralised after their New Zealand tour. There are some positives though with their batting - In the first test they showed that they can last if they show some application, but the loss of Mathews leaves a big hole in their team. I'm trying to be positive though because something tells me Chandimal is gonna encourage his team to give it a red-hot go when they start on Thursday.
Trevine
Roar Pro
Agree with you on some points Nuwan. But the gulf between the two is too great mainly due to the Sri Lankans inconsistency recently. Also the Gabba will give them some nightmares with its bounce. They struggled against Southee and Boult. Australia's bowling is as or more potent than the Kiwis.
Nuwan Ranasinghe
Roar Pro
Hi Trevine as someone who has close ties with the Sri Lankan cricket team I honestly think they will have a better chance than most of us are willing to give them credit for. They may struggle to win yes but if look at the current rankings Australia is 5th and Sri Lanka is 6th. It shows that there really may not be a huge gulf between the sides as the scoreline may suggest. Sri Lanka always manage to surprise and dumbfound Australia when they come here and I think this series will be no different. In white ball cricket if you look at recent results within the last decade Sri Lanka has done remarkably well on Australian shores and have had the wood over them in a couple of games. The bowling is definitely a weak link without Rangana Herath but these Sri Lankan boys can definitely bat if the apply themselves, as the 1st Test will show.
Blake Standfield
Roar Guru
Let's make that call the day New Zealand mange to beat Australia in a meaningful match.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Very well said!
Kopa Shamsu
Guest
"They left empty-handed after a winless tour" Seriously harsh on a team this young who is still trying to find it's feet after retirement of some all time greats. They didn't win in NZ, but their show in NZ was no way miserable. Instead of going for big result, SL should concentrate on building the team & use these international opportunities as a platform to judge quality of players.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Welcome Sri Lanka. A chance for us to experience some success however it would only be papering (or sandpapering) over the cracks. Bit like bashing your little brother while mum is away!
Bearfax
Roar Guru
Have to agree with you on this point. The bowling is top class but the batting is quite vulnerable and its fortunate for Australia that they are only facing SL, who also are on the bottom half of test world cricket at this stage. Its a good test for some of Australia's up and coming batsmen, especially Renshaw, Pucovski and Head who should be in the core of future test sides. Mind you I think Patterson should have been and deserved to be in the side and watch out for Sangha and Doran in the years to come. Its rebuilding time and though I still think they've got the selections wrong in one or two batting spots, its a step in the right direction following the awful selection bungle of the last test series.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
The pink ball still needs protecting, so expect some grass at the Gabba. Manuka is a bit of an unknown but seems to be slow (by Australian standards) and getting slower. Maybe if the heatwave keeps up (I think we've had more maximums 40 or above than under 34 since Christmas Eve) the pitch could break up late - if the game goes that long, both sides have very brittle batting. One three day game at Bellerive is hardly a good lead in.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Thankfully for Sri Lanka, the Australians aren't as good as the New Zealanders.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Its depends what wickets are served up, if the wicket hasn;t got a lot of pace, is flat and dry then Sri Lanka come into the equation. At the moment you would say India got the better venues for them that would have suited Sri Lanka more as well.