Australia v Sri Lanka First Test Preview

Australia had a poor start to the summer against India, and will be keen to turn it around in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which gets underway on Thursday at the Gabba.

Day-night Tests always bring an air of uncertainty, and while India knocked it back, Sri Lanka were happy to use the pink ball in Brisbane – something they may well come to regret.

An Aussie attack with the ball swinging is the last thing they want, given the conditions they prefer playing in are low and slow.

Australian Captain Tim Paine poses with his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Chandimal with the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy which the two sides are vying for.

Based on what we saw last time the Queensland venue hosted a Test under lights, this could be hostile if the bowlers are consistent and the pitch is near what we have seen in past decades.

When the pink ball comes out, curators have to leave more grass on their wickets to ensure the ball doesn’t get chewed up too quickly. Add that to the difficulty of batting in the sunset period and shortly after dusk, and facing up can become a nightmare.

While wickets fall under lights, the second session has often been the worst time to bat. The sun is going down and the artificial lights are taking effect, making for a constantly changing environment.

In the aforementioned Gabba day-night Test, against Pakistan, Australia’s first innings brought with it 429, while Pakistan’s second got 450. The two in between weren’t worth writing home about, but the hosts ended up with a thrilling 39-run victory.

But since the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, Australia’s best results were a drawn Test in Pakistan, and a single victory in Perth on a bouncy deck against India.

Outside of that, they have lost series to South Africa, Pakistan, India and struggled in limited-overs cricket.

Bowling 340 overs across the first innings of the last two Tests against India would have also sent shockwaves across the camp, with the side being forced to follow on at home for the first time in 30 years.

They have made plenty of changes to the squad ahead of the visit from Sri Lanka, and with these being their last Tests before the Ashes later this year, there is plenty on the line.

Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Will Pucovski and Kurtis Patterson all have plenty to prove in a brittle batting order.

On top of all that, there is the feeling that Australia simply should win this series. Home, against Sri Lanka. It’d be embarrassing to lose either of these Tests.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are right up against it with some poor recent results of their own.

Their last series saw a one-nil loss away to New Zealand, where the batting simply wasn’t up to it. They did eke out a draw in the first Test, but they were failing often, with only Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis putting up a fight.

Going down in the second Test by 423 runs probably gave more of a reflection between the teams though.

If losing on the road wasn’t bad enough, their previous series was a 3-0 loss at home to England. While there is no doubting the opposition’s quality, Sri Lanka are falling down the Test rankings at a rate of knots.

Individual performances from players like Mendis, Dimuth Karunaratne and captain Dinesh Chandimal will be relied on, but even that is unlikely to be enough, as Sri Lanka have never won a Test match in Australia, with just two draws from 13 attempts.

The positive news is that the weather forecast is only predicting chances of interruptions on Friday (Day 2), so we should get something close to a full Test.

History

Last five matches August 13-17, 2016: Sri Lanka defeat Australia by 163 runs at Colombo August 4-8, 2016: Sri Lanka defeat Australia by 229 runs at Galle July 26-30, 2016: Sri Lanka defeat Australia by 106 runs at Kandy January 3-7, 2013: Australia defeat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets at Sydney December 26-30, 2012: Australia defeat Sri Lanka by an innings and 201 runs at Melbourne

Last five series 2016: Sri Lanka defeat Australia 3-0 in Sri Lanka (three-Test series) 2012-13: Auastralia defeat Sri Lanka 3-0 in Australia (three-Test series) 2011: Australia defeat Sri Lanka 1-0 in Sri Lanka (three-Test series) 2007: Australia defeat Sri Lanka 2-0 in Australia (two-Test series) 2004: Australia defeat Sri Lanka 1-0 in Australia (two-Test series)

Overall head-to-head: Played 29, Australia 17, Sri Lanka 4, drawn 8 Overall head-to-head in Australia: Played 13, Australia 11, Sri Lanka 0, drawn 2 Overall head-to-head at The Gabba: Played 2, Australia 1, Sri Lanka 0, drawn 1 Overall series record: Played 11, Australia 9, Sri Lanka 2 Overall series in Australia: Played 6, Australia 6, Sri Lanka 0 Overall Test record at The Gabba: Played 60, Australia 38, opponents 8, drawn 13, tied 1