1st Test Sri Lanka v Australia Jan 29-Feb 2 1500hrs @ Galle International Stadium

[sr36]

carey at 6 after 100 overs in the field is not great either no keeper can bat high pant has failed since moving up. beau looked really bad v the spin too but who knows

Head spoke before the game about them being willing to shift around their batting line up. Judging by what we did with Carey, I think it might be about trying to give ourselves left/right combinations.

Did anyone notice if it was just Carey padded up when Inglis and Uzzy were batting or was Beau padded up as well?

*Andy Flower disagrees with you about no keeper being able to bat higher. Bairstow sometimes disagrees with you

 

[PhatBoy]

Their batting is better than that. Their bowling was a worry though. They'll have to serve up a more bowler friendly pitch that that and catch impeccably to knock us over the way we batted.

Agreed and the second innings at various stages probably showed it - they all looked relatively comfortable after the openers before 4 of them simply gifted their wickets, Chandimal got a good ball (that’s not to denigrate Australia’s bowling which was perfectly fine)

You’re right about their bowling, it didn’t offer much.

 

[Westend]

Head spoke before the game about them being willing to shift around their batting line up. Judging by what we did with Carey, I think it might be about trying to give ourselves left/right combinations.

Did anyone notice if it was just Carey padded up when Inglis and Uzzy were batting or was Beau padded up as well?

*Andy Flower disagrees with you about no keeper being able to bat higher. Bairstow sometimes disagrees with you

Honestly just noticed Alex padded up

 

[sr36]

Agreed and the second innings at various stages probably showed it - they all looked relatively comfortable after the openers before 4 of them simply gifted their wickets, Chandimal got a good ball (that’s not to denigrate Australia’s bowling which was perfectly fine)

You’re right about their bowling, it didn’t offer much.

3-7 is good, if they're switched on and not idiotic like they were in this test.

 

[RookiePick]

Presume all the team raging we wasted time are now complaining the Lankans are rubbish?

 

[damochandler]

They still have a bloke with a 100 test wickets in under 20 tests

 

[PhatBoy]

They still have a bloke with a 100 test wickets in under 20 tests

Thought Vandersay, shithouse as his figures were, showed enough as well. The other two were regrettably unthreatening.

 

[sr36]

Thought Vandersay, shithouse as his figures were, showed enough as well. The other two were regrettably unthreatening.

I don't think you can blame the seamer. I think Starc, Bumrah and Wood are the only pace bowlers who would have threatened on that pitch. Maybe Shami.

 

[PhatBoy]

I don't think you can blame the seamer. I think Starc, Bumrah and Wood are the only pace bowlers who would have threatened on that pitch. Maybe Shami.

Some of the SA guys might have gotten a bit.
And hey, Seales - bullish as I am about him - was good on that shitheap in Multan the other day.

But point taken it certainly wasn’t the sort of deck that was going to give any assistance at all to Fernando

 

[Iceman!]

Saw this on reddit

'Nathan Lyon since turning 35 - 108 wickets at 22.88.'


Super underappreciated.

 

[PhatBoy]

Saw this on reddit

'Nathan Lyon since turning 35 - 108 wickets at 22.88.'


Super underappreciated.

I don’t disagree with this in general but his last couple of years those figures have been helped a LOT by how good the quicks have been at ripping out top orders.

He’s taken 53 of his 108 wickets from the top 6 at 32. His work cleaning up after them has been exceptional.

He’s taken 18 Wickets from numbers 10/11 at 4.6.

Not that I think he’s gotten worse or anything like that I think he’s been just as good - he’s just hardly had a chance to be used that much as a frontliner like he had the first 10 years of his career because the other three and sometimes Boland have been generally killing it, then he comes on and does his role perfectly

 

[Lunchtime]

Even you know we batted too long. Pathetic test to watch. And then we had the riveting womens test.
I'm one eyed Australian but please, both games were 2nd rate.

Yep - one sided cricket is garbage cricket and shows up the poor opposition. Pathetic.

 

[Lunchtime]

I don’t disagree with this in general but his last couple of years those figures have been helped a LOT by how good the quicks have been at ripping out top orders.

He’s taken 53 of his 108 wickets from the top 6 at 32. His work cleaning up after them has been exceptional.

He’s taken 18 Wickets from numbers 10/11 at 4.6.

Not that I think he’s gotten worse or anything like that I think he’s been just as good - he’s just hardly had a chance to be used that much as a frontliner like he had the first 10 years of his career because the other three and sometimes Boland have been generally killing it, then he comes on and does his role perfectly

Bowling to Sri Lanka has helped too

 

[PhatBoy]

Bowling to Sri Lanka has helped too

Not as much as bowling to NZ.

His 13 wickets at 12 against them puts his 7 at 19.5 against SL to shame.

 

[Topkent]

LukeParkerno1 how good is Sri Lankan cricket? Really good team. Imagine if they were a great team Australia might almost have had to bat twice wow
Test cricket killing it around the world

 

[The Casey Cat]

LukeParkerno1 how good is Sri Lankan cricket? Really good team. Imagine if they were a great team Australia might almost have had to bat twice wow
Test cricket killing it around the world

Ah yes the typical moan from you when the Australian team you don't like win a match. Yawn.

 

[The Casey Cat]

I saw an Aussie opening bat make a double hundred in the twilight of his career away from home. And his highest score.

I saw 150 in the opening session of a Test match.

I saw a bloke who’s a wicketkeeper make a century on debut. In front of his parents. In a foreign country.

I saw one of Australia’s best ever batsmen make his 10000th run.

I saw a couple of young Australian spinners bowl really well, when the opposition spinners made little impact.

I saw a really committed Australian team put in for the entire test, and a Sri Lankan team that fielded well and didn’t drop their bundle in very, very tough circumstances.

I saw Australia win by an innings away from home.

I saw a beautiful cricket ground in a nice part of the world that was rebuilt after a ****ing tragedy largely by contributors from past test players.

And I was THERE for most of it.

Exactly which bits did you consider pathetic you ****ing sour muppet?

Awesome post. Also consider we have lost 4 of our last 5 over there. Even with how underwhelming Sri Lanka was (they were junk) there was a lot to like and appreciate in the Australian performance. Ignorant, miserable whinging flogs will never be interested in that side of it though.

Both their offies look like they put no energy into their run up at all.

Yeah I didn't appreciate their efforts either. Do they expect the pitch to do it all for them? Spinning wicket or not you will get more out of it getting side on and getting some energy into your delivery and trying to release it from a higher point.

Don't necessarily mean speed either. More the amount of work their trying to put on the ball and how much flight and variety they show. Just dawdling in and sending down front on flat nothings against a side pretty good at playing spin? Despite fluffing some chances they got about what they deserved.

Any changes for 2nd test.

I, for one, would like to see Labuschagne replaced by Konstas, McSweeney or Connolly.

I dont care who.

A lot of us would like that. Seems unlikely.

I think they'll serve up a nightmare to bat on in the next test to bring more luck into it.

Maybe. Problem is they didn't even last 110 overs on this 'road.' Our spinners will enjoy an even spicier spinning track just as much if not more than they will as they actually bowl in a way that will get something out of it.

I don’t disagree with this in general but his last couple of years those figures have been helped a LOT by how good the quicks have been at ripping out top orders.

He’s taken 53 of his 108 wickets from the top 6 at 32. His work cleaning up after them has been exceptional.

He’s taken 18 Wickets from numbers 10/11 at 4.6.

Not that I think he’s gotten worse or anything like that I think he’s been just as good - he’s just hardly had a chance to be used that much as a frontliner like he had the first 10 years of his career because the other three and sometimes Boland have been generally killing it, then he comes on and does his role perfectly

Probably true but also for a long time now he has been the main partnership breaker when/if things started to drift back away before the quicks got back into it.

 

[Titch3Votes0MooreAA]

I am a massive Steve Smith fan, so I am biased. But he's now a top-5 batsman all time for me. 1. Bradman, 2. Sobers, 3. Tendulkar, 4. Lara, 5. Smith, 6. Sir Vivian Richards. I know that will be very controversial to a lot having him higher than Sir Vivian, and there are people who probably have numerous players still ahead of him, but Smith to me just encapsulates so much about the allure of cricket. His ability to dictate a ball in excess of 140kmh to wherever he wants so effortlessly, no matter where it's pitched, is just about the best I've seen. He has become a very accomplished player of spin by not just current standards but historic. And his resilience under pressure or to take a game by the horns and bat the other side out of it is by far the best of the current era, if you ask me.

But what solidifies Smith as an all-time great and legend and separates him from even the greatest of greats is that he is constantly adapting himself to whatever issue he is faced with. Most greats at his age just continued what they had always done, as is evident these days by Kohli, but Smith has continually adapted to his age and natural unbalance that creeps into the body's actions/reactions. And he continues to adapt to whatever new big threat or issue he is facing from a bowler or other team.

 

[Iceman!]

I am a massive Steve Smith fan, so I am biased. But he's now a top-5 batsman all time for me. 1. Bradman, 2. Sobers, 3. Tendulkar, 4. Lara, 5. Smith, 6. Sir Vivian Richards. I know that will be very controversial to a lot having him higher than Sir Vivian, and there are people who probably have numerous players still ahead of him, but Smith to me just encapsulates so much about the allure of cricket. His ability to dictate a ball in excess of 140kmh to wherever he wants so effortlessly, no matter where it's pitched, is just about the best I've seen. He has become a very accomplished player of spin by not just current standards but historic. And his resilience under pressure or to take a game by the horns and bat the other side out of it is by far the best of the current era, if you ask me.

But what solidifies Smith as an all-time great and legend and separates him from even the greatest of greats is that he is constantly adapting himself to whatever issue he is faced with. Most greats at his age just continued what they had always done, as is evident these days by Kohli, but Smith has continually adapted to his age and natural unbalance that creeps into the body's actions/reactions. And he continues to adapt to whatever new big threat or issue he is facing from a bowler or other team.

Plenty have him as the best since Bradman so it ain't that controversial.

 

[Bedi]

The Big Kahunamann !

Superb performance

 

[Bedi]

Thought Vandersay, shithouse as his figures were, showed enough as well. The other two were regrettably unthreatening.

That first ball!

 

[Bedi]

I am a massive Steve Smith fan, so I am biased. But he's now a top-5 batsman all time for me. 1. Bradman, 2. Sobers, 3. Tendulkar, 4. Lara, 5. Smith, 6. Sir Vivian Richards. I know that will be very controversial to a lot having him higher than Sir Vivian, and there are people who probably have numerous players still ahead of him, but Smith to me just encapsulates so much about the allure of cricket. His ability to dictate a ball in excess of 140kmh to wherever he wants so effortlessly, no matter where it's pitched, is just about the best I've seen. He has become a very accomplished player of spin by not just current standards but historic. And his resilience under pressure or to take a game by the horns and bat the other side out of it is by far the best of the current era, if you ask me.

But what solidifies Smith as an all-time great and legend and separates him from even the greatest of greats is that he is constantly adapting himself to whatever issue he is faced with. Most greats at his age just continued what they had always done, as is evident these days by Kohli, but Smith has continually adapted to his age and natural unbalance that creeps into the body's actions/reactions. And he continues to adapt to whatever new big threat or issue he is facing from a bowler or other team.

Thought he was done but we've seen some of his finest knocks in the past month

 

[HugeJohnson]

We are far too good for Sri Lanka and have been for quite some time. It's completely expected given the resources available between the two nations. I hope they find something within and put up a fight in the 2nd test, no one likes to watch a demolition like that

 

[Bedi]

Their batting is better than that. Their bowling was a worry though. They'll have to serve up a more bowler friendly pitch that that and catch impeccably to knock us over the way we batted.

Talk here is SL will opt for the same pitch so we can expect more turn

 

[sr36]

We are far too good for Sri Lanka and have been for quite some time. It's completely expected given the resources available between the two nations. I hope they find something within and put up a fight in the 2nd test, no one likes to watch a demolition like that

Our last two series there were 1-1 in 2022 and a 0-3 drubbing by SL in 2019

So being far too good for them for some time isn't true.

Absolutely murdered them though.

We've clearly put in a heap of work to get better in Asia.