**Official** Australia in Sri Lanka Jan - Feb 2025

[thierry henry]

The cricket after tea was negative and dour as ****

Was it “negative” (good batting) or was it negative (aggressive batting and/or negative bowling)

 

[Starfighter]

Was it “negative” (good batting) or was it negative (aggressive batting and/or negative bowling)

The last

 

[trundler]

Was it “negative” (good batting) or was it negative (aggressive batting and/or negative bowling)

Darts outside leg stump vs the pads

 

[thierry henry]

Darts outside leg stump vs the pads

I might be the only Kiwi alive who didn’t enjoy Wagner’s leg theory and I’ve been tagged about this. Offended isn’t a strong enough word.

 

[trundler]

I might be the only Kiwi alive who didn’t enjoy Wagner’s leg theory and I’ve been tagged about this. Offended isn’t a strong enough word.

Yeah but it was spin bowling

 

[thierry henry]

For future reference, I enjoy proper bowling (bowling in the channel outside off and trying to get the batter out) and proper batting (desperately trying to not get out). Anything else simply isn’t cricket.

 

[thierry henry]

Batsmen who score runs due to a carefree attitude towards getting out literally aren’t playing cricket so the runs shouldn’t count

 

[PlayerComparisons]

35 tons in 205 innings. Scary to think how many he’d have if Aus played as many tests as Eng.

 

[Starfighter]

Darts outside leg stump vs the pads

I'll take one exception to that, they weren't really darts. I suppose the Sri Lankan bowlers know their conditions, but it was interesting to see all of them bowling just over 80 km/h. Smith and Khawaja looked like they had ages to adjust their shots, especially once the early moisture dried out.

All of the Australian bowlers will bowl significantly quicker because it's their usual style and it'll be interesting to see what happens. Bowling quicker in India is a thing but this isn't India and I've seen (highlights of) quite a few SL matches where bowling slower worked.

 

[Starfighter]

I do think Channel 7 will be a bit nervous. I doubt they've paid much for these broadcast rights, and I doubt they have much better to show, but they've been a bit cagey about the cricket in the past and the interest of today's play varied pretty much inversely with the number of people that would have likely to watch. Not the best for hooking viewers into watching the rest of the series.

 

[trundler]

I'll take one exception to that, they weren't really darts. I suppose the Sri Lankan bowlers know their conditions, but it was interesting to see all of them bowling just over 80 km/h. Smith and Khawaja looked like they had ages to adjust their shots, especially once the early moisture dried out.

All of the Australian bowlers will bowl significantly quicker because it's their usual style and it'll be interesting to see what happens. Bowling quicker in India is a thing but this isn't India and I've seen (highlights of) quite a few SL matches where bowling slower worked.

Noman Ali took an 8fer bowling rather slow through the air in '22.

 

[halba]

just dont see a result here. rain on all the next days, lots of lost time in the match, and a very flat wicket.

 

[Qlder]

Really enjoyed the first 2 sessions but missed the last. Sounds like I didn't miss much with dreadful leg theory tactics

 

[Starfighter]

Noman Ali took an 8fer bowling rather slow through the air in '22.

I'd forgotten about that even though I'm pretty sure I watched it at the time. Though is Noman actually capable of bowling quicker?

I was thinking of series highlights I watched from the 04 Aus series, where in at least one match Murali and Warne both slowed down to mid 70s km/h. I thought Herath sometimes bowled a bit quicker though and varied his pace a lot more. But the SL pitches don't seem to be as receptive to just firing it in as the recent ones in India have been.

 

[govinda indian fan]

Good day for Aussies. Khawaja and smith played well. Hope day 2 will be more interesting

 

[trundler]

I'd forgotten about that even though I'm pretty sure I watched it at the time. Though is Noman actually capable of bowling quicker?

I was thinking of series highlights I watched from the 04 Aus series, where in at least one match Murali and Warne both slowed down to mid 70s km/h. I thought Herath sometimes bowled a bit quicker though and varied his pace a lot more. But the SL pitches don't seem to be as receptive to just firing it in as the recent ones in India have been.

Embuldeniya ended up being a flash in the pan but when he was flashing he bowled very slow and looped the ball beautifully

 

[Jarquis]

Thing that struck me about today was that as much of a freak as Smith was in the period of time he was at his peak…. He got to 10k slower than Dravid

 

[Sliferxxxx]

Thing that struck me about today was that as much of a freak as Smith was in the period of time he was at his peak…. He got to 10k slower than Dravid

Also what struck me was that lara, Sachin and Kumar got there in the exact same number of innings even though Kumar and Sachin had much better averages than Lara.

 

[Qlder]

Thing that struck me about today was that as much of a freak as Smith was in the period of time he was at his peak…. He got to 10k slower than Dravid

No he didn't. Smith 205 innings, Dravid 206 innings

 

[The_CricketUmpire]

Australian Batsman: 1000+ Runs in Asia

Ricky Ponting
Matches: 28
Innings: 48
Runs: 1889
Average: 41.97
Highest Score: 150
50s: 10
100s: 5
50+ Scores: 15
Not Outs: 3
Ducks: 3

Steve Smith
Matches: 23
Innings: 41
Runs: 1826
Average: 50.72
Highest Score: 178 not out
50s: 8
100s: 6
50+ Scores: 14
Not Outs: 5
Ducks: 3

Allan Border
Matches: 22
Innings: 39
Runs: 1799
Average: 54.51
Highest Score: 162
50s: 8
100s: 6
50+ Scores: 14
Not Outs: 6
Ducks: 0

Matthew Hayden
Matches: 19
Innings: 35
Runs: 1663
Average: 50.39
Highest Score: 203
50s: 8
100s: 4
50+ Scores: 12
Not Outs: 2
Ducks: 2

Usman Khawaja
Matches: 17
Innings: 29
Runs: 1459
Average: 60.79
Highest Score: 180
50s: 6
100s: 5
50+ Scores: 11
Not Outs: 5
Ducks: 2

David Warner
Matches: 22
Innings: 42
Runs: 1300
Average: 31.70
Highest Score: 133
50s: 7
100s: 3
50+ Scores: 10
Not Outs: 1
Ducks: 2

Michael Clarke
Matches: 20
Innings: 37
Runs: 1294
Average: 36.97
Highest Score: 151
50s: 5
100s: 4
50+ Scores: 9
Not Outs: 2
Ducks: 1

Steve Waugh
Matches: 23
Innings: 35
Runs: 1205
Average: 41.55
Highest Score: 157
50s: 5
100s: 3
50+ Scores: 8
Not Outs: 6
Ducks: 6

Michael Hussey
Matches: 11
Innings: 19
Runs: 1198
Average: 63.05
Highest Score: 182
50s: 5
100s: 4
50+ Scores: 9
Not Outs: 0
Ducks: 0

Justin Langer
Matches: 20
Innings: 33
Runs: 1099
Average: 33.30
Highest Score: 166
50s: 6
100s: 2
50+ Scores: 8
Not Outs: 0
Ducks: 3

Mark Waugh
Matches: 22
Innings: 36
Runs: 1096
Average: 32.23
Highest Score: 153 not out
50s: 8
100s: 2
50+ Scores: 10
Not Outs: 2
Ducks: 10

Michael Slater
Matches: 16
Innings: 28
Runs: 1036
Average: 38.37
Highest Score: 110
50s: 5
100s: 2
50+ Scores: 7
Not Outs: 1
Ducks: 3

Mark Taylor
Matches: 13
Innings: 24
Runs: 1020
Average: 48.57
Highest Score: 334 not out
50s: 3
100s: 2
50+ Scores: 5
Not Outs: 3
Ducks: 2


Players in bold - still playing.