***Official*** Sri Lanka in Australia

[Athlai]

An how many wickets did he get ? Those averages of 19 Tests are not lying....Just as Hussey's batting average of 82 in 17 Tests doesn't either.

Fernando's single wicket is not equal to Maharoof keeping it tight and contributing with the bat.

 

[Prince EWS]

Maharoof is the perfect first change bowler for this Sri Lankan team IMO. He doesn't let the pressure off by bowling absolute rubbish so he can stem the flow of runs in between Malinga/Vaas and Murali. Fernando can bowl well at times but he just takes the pressure off far too often. Maharoof has bowled much, much better than Fernando on this tour as well. Sometimes you have to look beyond the stats, especially in the early days of someone's career.

 

[JASON]

Fernando's single wicket is not equal to Maharoof keeping it tight and contributing with the bat.

18runs and getting clean bowled in both innings... I really don't think his 18 runs is that important ...his bowling rarely yields wickets at Test level...as the record shows -Strike rate 98...against all Teams ...Are you saying his bowling has remarkably improved to make him very potent against the best Team in the world ?

 

[Jono]

Well they aren't actually touring any time soon. I'd be quietly backing them if they came over next summer though, especially if they could get their selectorial issues sorted. Their batsmen are the most technically equipped to deal with Australian pitches (other than Australia's, obviously) and their attack has improved quite a bit since the last time they were here. Steyn is really starting to become a rounded bowler and if they realised Pollock added much more than Nel to the team and managed to get Rudolph back from Yorkshire, I really think they'd give Australia a run for their money.

They can't even handle their batting on their own pitches a lot of the time. Losing tests to Pakistan and India at home, and were very poor against NZ in the first innings. Not to mention last time they faced Australia with any juice in the pitch they were piss poor vs. Clark.

Their batting is still as brittle as most other teams when coming to Australia IMO. They'd still be the best bet to beat Australia in Australia because of their bowling attack, but their batting is still weak.

 

[Athlai]

18runs and getting clean bowled in both innings... I really don't think his 18 runs is that important ...his bowling rarely yields wickets at Test level...as the record shows -Strike rate 98...against all Teams ...Are you saying his bowling has remarkably improved to make him very potent against the best Team in the world ?

More so than Fernando yeah.

 

[JASON]

More so than Fernando yeah.

Fernando whose Strike rate is 54 odd with 77 wickets from 24 Tests...

You are in other words saying Fernando despite his strike rate has got worse than the guy with a strike rate of 98 who despite only 24 wickets against all countries in 19 tests...you say is worthier.....based on this test where he failed to get a single wicket but restricted runs more than Fernando and took a few cheap wickets against the Bulls in a meaningless practice matc....is that correct ....

So when did restricting runs become more important in Test cricket than getting wickets...Am I missing something ?

 

[Athlai]

Fernando whose Strike rate is 54 odd with 77 wickets from 24 Tests...

You are in other words saying Fernando despite his strike rate has got worse than the guy with a strike rate of 98 who despite only 24 wickets against all countries in 19 tests..

You repeat this again and again but it seems like your not watching the match itself. Maharoof bowls a solid line and length, making the batsman work for their runs, one day he may even become a wicket taker. But the point is he's a foil allowing the likes of Malinga and Murali to attack all they please.

Fernando on the other hand is an inconsistent attacker, it's not a good idea to play both Malinga and Fernando right now especially with the frailty of Sri Lankas batting lineup, runs are an expensive liability.

Sri Lanka's best lineup would be
Murali
Vaas
Malinga
Maharoof

 

[JBH001]

* Sigh *

>_<

Ah, well.

Well done to Australia. A thoroughly deserved victory and very well bowled to Brett Lee, maybe he is better than I thought he was (and on a wicket not really giving much assistance either). In regards to this new look Aus team, its (or potentially rather) as good as it has been for the last 10 - 15 years or so. I think the batting looks as strong as it has been, while the bowling though missing two all-time greats looks like it wont lack for bite (though in the future against better batsmen I think it may struggle a little). All in all though, a great performance by Australia - if not for rain they may well have wrapped this up on the fourth day. I am glad I was at work though and did not get to follow the match on TV - the self congratulatory w**k of the Channel 9 commentary team is a little hard to take at times (all the more so for being usually deserved).

SL? Well, I really dont know what to say at the moment..

But for the next test, I would definitely prefer Maharoof to Fernando as he is far more reliable and would be a good foil to Malinga who must play. I dont see Maharoof as anything more than an ordinary competent test bowler unless he adds something to his bowling in the form of greater variation - he is a little too predictable, I think. But, he is certainly better than Fernando who will almost always find a way to let to you down - especially when you can least afford it.

I would like to see this team in Hobart

1. Atapattu
2. Jayasuriya
3. Van Dort
4. Sangakkara
5. Jayawardene
6. Silva
7. Jayawardene
8. Maharoof
9. Vaas
10. Malinga
11. Murali

I dont see Murali getting to Warne's wicket mark - unless in the unlikely event of Australia batting two full innings in Hobart. But I would like to see him bowl well (as he did on the first day at the Gabba) and get a 3 - 5 good wicket haul for some good bowling. It would be good to see.

 

[social]

Whilst I appreciate that SL were hampered severely by the absence of Sanga, this was still an incredibly poor performance by their batsmen.

They had by far the best of the conditions (undeniably perfect for batting after day one) and barely raised a whimper.

That being said, lots of credit must go to the Oz bowlers who toiled away with no shortage of skill

 

[pup11]

You repeat this again and again but it seems like your not watching the match itself. Maharoof bowls a solid line and length, making the batsman work for their runs, one day he may even become a wicket taker. But the point is he's a foil allowing the likes of Malinga and Murali to attack all they please.

Fernando on the other hand is an inconsistent attacker, it's not a good idea to play both Malinga and Fernando right now especially with the frailty of Sri Lankas batting lineup, runs are an expensive liability.

Sri Lanka's best lineup would be
Murali
Vaas
Malinga
Maharoof

I agree that Maharoof may not have ability to run through sides but atleast he can bowl according to fields but Fernando is bit too much of an unknown quantity, so its better to pick someone more reliable like Maharoof instead of Fernando.

 

[social]

The problem with SL picking only 4 bowlers is that unless Murali takes a whole heap of wickets, it's unlikely that they'll bowl Oz out twice.

IMO, they need to discard a batsman and throw caution to the wind by picking 5 bowlers in an effort to take 20 wickets.

 

[Jono]

The problem with SL picking only 4 bowlers is that unless Murali takes a whole heap of wickets, it's unlikely that they'll bowl Oz out twice.

IMO, they need to discard a batsman and throw caution to the wind by picking 5 bowlers in an effort to take 20 wickets.

I actually agree with that, even though SL's batting was brittle this test match.

Vaas is more than competent with the bat as well, in particular when he applies himself. I'd almost drop Prasanna Jayawardene (as long as Sanga can keep) and Samaraweera (*ducks for cover from Prince EWS*) and just bring in Malinga. You're 1-0 down and can't win the series anyway, may as well just roll the dice and try and bowl out the Aussies.

If Sanga can't keep, then drop Silva and Samaraweera.

 

[Prince EWS]

Samaraweera will almost certainly be dropped. Shouldn't be, but will.

 

[iamdavid]

I sure hope this Brett Lee is here to stay, was superb in this match.
He's always had all the tools to be a succesful test bowler it was just a matter of putting it together consistently, hopefully the responsibility of leading the attack means he will step it up a notch.

 

[JASON]

Samaraweera will almost certainly be dropped. Shouldn't be, but will.

If Sangakkara was able to take up keeping (which seems unlikely) It would be better to drop Prasanna J . But that seems too far fetched ATM.

 

[Prince EWS]

If Sangakkara was able to take up keeping (which seems unlikely) It would be better to drop Prasanna J . But that seems too far fetched ATM.

AWTA. It'd be realistically better to drop Silva as well, but he made two forties and gave the illusion of good batting by going after everything, getting fluky edges and being dropped, so he'll stay.

 

[iamdavid]

Any chance Atapattu's comments come back to bite him on the ass and he gets left out?..meaning Vandort and Jayasuria open and Sangakkarra slots into number 3 ?

 

[stephen]

I sure hope this Brett Lee is here to stay, was superb in this match.
He's always had all the tools to be a succesful test bowler it was just a matter of putting it together consistently, hopefully the responsibility of leading the attack means he will step it up a notch.

QFT

 

[Johnners]

QFT???

Disagree with Prince that it would be realisticly better to drop Silva. Sure he played a scratchy first innings, but imo he did apply himself quite well (apart from that last shot...) in the 2nd innings and at least tried to keep the scoreboard ticking over (which imo is essential to do, even if you are batting to save a match).

 

[stephen]

QFT???

Disagree with Prince that it would be realisticly better to drop Silva. Sure he played a scratchy first innings, but imo he did apply himself quite well (apart from that last shot...) in the 2nd innings and at least tried to keep the scoreboard ticking over (which imo is essential to do, even if you are batting to save a match).

QFT = Quoted For Truth.

EDIT: 100th post