Praveen Jayawickrama – ever heard of him?
Neither had I, until he debuted in the second Test for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh.
The first Test was a run-fest. Both sides topped 540 in their respective first innings and the bowlers could only take 17 wickets for the match.
The second Test belonged to Jayawickrama, who took five wickets in the first innings for Sri Lanka and six in the second – on debut.
He looks like a really innocuous left-hand finger spinner, but has good control, got plenty of bounce, enough turn to beat the bat and some very good deception.
It’s tough to know whether he’s a good ‘un or simply had one of those games. Right now though, he looks like he could cause problems for Australian batsmen when we tour next year.
Ashton Agar should also be watching this guy too. There’s no reason why Agar shouldn’t figure in Australia’s Test plans on this type of surface.
Praveen Jayawickrama of Sri Lanka bowls. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Win the toss and bat in Sri Lanka – granted both Tests in this series were played in Kandy, but the team who batted first got a huge advantage. In the first game, Bangladesh batted first and Sri Lanka bowled 173 overs to dismiss seven batsmen.
In the second game, Sri Lanka batted first and Bangladesh got through 159 overs. By Day 4, there was plenty for the spinners and 19 wickets were lost in the last two days.
Justin Langer, take note.
Sri Lanka will not be pushovers at their place – three batsmen made hundreds and Dimuth Karunaratne made 244 against Bangladesh. They also batted with patience, something Australia will need to do when they tour.
Back home in Darwin, NT Cricket will be staging a programme titled Cricket 365, running from mid-June through August. Kurtis Patterson and Chris Tremain are heading north, as are another 30 players from all states.
This should be an event to keep an eye on. Right now, Australia has few opportunities to play any cricket between now and the World Cup and Ashes. The tournaments in Darwin could be a chance for guys to get some much-needed practice.
England has a one-man selection panel – the England Cricket Board (ECB) decided it no longer needed a national selector so Ed Smith is gone. They’ve now decided Chris Silverwood, the England coach, is now sole selector.
He’ll select teams in conjunction with the captains of the red and white-ball teams and according to the ECB website, “Supporting this system will be a resource that will provide intelligence from performance analysis, talent ID, scouting, medical and sports science with further input from the England Men’s Performance Director, Mo Bobat and James Taylor, who will see his job title change from England Selector to Head Scout. Coaches aligned to the men’s international teams will all feed into this process.”
I’ve no idea what a “resource that will provide intelligence from performance analysis” looks like, nor do I understand the advantages of this new system, other than making one person accountable for all selections.
Is this the way Australia should go? I’m not sold.
Ben Palliyaguru
Roar Rookie
As someone who lives in Sri Lanka I can confirm that Jayawickrama's performance was no fluke. He is an extremely talented youngster with all the potential to be one of the top spinners in the world. Hopefully he can put his potential to good use and become what so many people over here think he can become.
Paul
Roar Guru
good call Riccardo. Both had a lot of grit too.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
He reminds me of Mohammad Yousuf and not just the beard! Elegant, intelligent, wristy...
Johnb
Guest
Not entirely Ed Smith's fault - apparently there was a virus going around and that was behind a lot of the seemingly bizarre musical chairs. But he's contributed some of his own screwball ideas from time to time so he merits criticism even if not for that
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
As a Tiger fan I was a bit disappointed the way our boyz handled him. But surely this lad has got talents.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Australia should definitely NOT go that way.
Ian
Roar Rookie
Ed Smith was a goner after the shambolic way he handle the selections on the recent Indian Tour.The whole thing was a fiasco with in form players being sent home for a 'rest' others being sent out and not even getting close to playing.After the World Cup it seemed that Ed Smith could basically do what he liked,no questions asked.Certainly none from his old mates in the TMS box.It seems like a classic example of a man being given too much power and it going to his head. Hopefully the new selection regime will go back to the basics of picking players that are in form and are most likely to succeed in whatever conditions they're playing in....please,no more Johnny Bairstow at number 3!!!!!!
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Yep, he has long been one of my favourites. Good to see him still padding up professionally at 38yo. Marcus Harris came good with a ton overnight. I like how the Championship starts all games on the same day at the same time. The Shield scheduling could do with the same. Makes following the comp much easier.
Paul
Roar Guru
when Amla first came into Test cricket, I thought he looked like a deer in the headlights but boy was I wrong. Hard to think of a more elegant cricketer in the past few decades. Jut read Marcus Harris made a hundred for Leicestershire
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Nice to see Hashim Amla score an unbeaten double ton for Surrey on the weekend after recording a pair the weekend before. Took Surrey to 7/560 against an attack including Kyle Abbot and Mohammad Abbas. Yet Hampshire could only manage 92 & 179. A walloping.