Sri Lanka in Australia thread

[Arjun]

What I want to know is who does Russel Arnold have naked photographs of?

I have no idea. It may be something new.

err, the difference between an ODI series in the subcontinent and a test series in australia.......

Makes no difference, with THIS batting performance.

 

[tooextracool]

Makes no difference, with THIS batting performance.

the conditions.....we all know SL tend to do better on slow,flat tracks.....pretty much like the ones they will play on in the asia cup and most other ODIs. their test match record has no relevance whatsoever to what they can or cannot do in ODIs

 

[Arjun]

It's all about form. One can understand if they are getting bowled out for 200-odd, that they can do better at home. But if they get shot out for 87 and rolled over for 162, can they really do any better even at home? This batting lineup, though 7 strong, has only 3 effective players, who cannot succeed everytime, but there is no backup from 4,5,6 or 7. That way, they cannot do far better. The only way they can improve is by making changes in those positions. The selectors have Saman Jayantha, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva and Gayan Wijekoon (who is also a good backup bowling option) to fill those spots.

 

[tooextracool]

It's all about form. One can understand if they are getting bowled out for 200-odd, that they can do better at home. But if they get shot out for 87 and rolled over for 162, can they really do any better even at home? This batting lineup, though 7 strong, has only 3 effective players, who cannot succeed everytime, but there is no backup from 4,5,6 or 7. That way, they cannot do far better.

one must remember that it was in bowler friendly conditions and australia themselves struggled to get past 200 against what was a far less threatening bowling attack as opposed to mcgrath,gillespie and kaspa. they play better in ODIs because the conditions are totally different and more suited to their batting lineup.

 

[Arjun]

they play better in ODIs because the conditions are totally different and more suited to their batting lineup.

In the 2003 Bank Alfalah series, the conditions favoured the swing bowlers so much in Dambulla that the batsmen could hardly score 150. Even in the home series against the Australians, they struggled to cope with the slow pitches. They are having a few difficulties with their batting.

 

[tooextracool]

In the 2003 Bank Alfalah series, the conditions favoured the swing bowlers so much in Dambulla that the batsmen could hardly score 150.

its very rare that we see wickets like those....SL do have problems on seamer friendly wickets, they have for year. but in ODIs they are a pretty decent outfit on slow/flat wickets.

Even in the home series against the Australians, they struggled to cope with the slow pitches. They are having a few difficulties with their batting.

australia are the best ODI team for a reason.....and SL were competitive in all the games in that series. would you have called for the sacking of players in the indian ODI side after the TVS cup or the vb series?

 

[Arjun]

its very rare that we see wickets like those....SL do have problems on seamer friendly wickets, they have for year. but in ODIs they are a pretty decent outfit on slow/flat wickets.

On form, the Lankans are likely to have problems on all wickets, even if they suit their batsmen. In fact, even in the Zimbabwe tour, they all struggled, except for Jayantha. With 4 of the top 7 batsmen failing, even 150 is difficult.

australia are the best ODI team for a reason.....and SL were competitive in all the games in that series. would you have called for the sacking of players in the indian ODI side after the TVS cup or the vb series?

Competitive, but not good enough. The bowling was bad, except for Murali and Vaas (every opposition counterpart did the job well), the batting depended on only 3 men (and those 3 men were very inconsistent) and a team that loses a series 3-0 is not competitive, but battered.

As for the Indian players, if you have been reading my post-VB messages, you would notice that one player I want out of the team is the captain, who can't bend to save a run, and even a few strike bowlers, who can't take a wicket for less than 25 runs, and even a batsman who has just been enjoying a joyride, but doing nothing at the time of a crisis. I would only sack those who have been underperforming for a year, and bring them back once they do well in local matches. They should not be dumped forever, but the notice has to be out. If you don't perform, you don't play. This is why Brett Lee was dropped after a dismal series v/s Pakistan, but had 2 VERY good matches (21 wickets) and ripped through the England top order when recalled in Perth.

 

[Jnr.]

a team that loses a series 3-0 is not competitive, but battered.

To be fair to SL, that 3-0 series loss was much closer than it looked. It could have easily been 3-0 to SL or 1-1, etc.

 

[Arjun]

To be fair to SL, that 3-0 series loss was much closer than it looked. It could have easily been 3-0 to SL or 1-1, etc.

3-0 was a lot wider if you look at both teams, man to man. Gilchrist, Ponting and Hayden, the top 3 Australian batsmen, are better than the SL top trio of Sanath, Marvan and Sangakkara, but not far better. But look beyond them, and Martyn, Symonds and Clarke are far better than Mahela (on present form), Arnold, Dilshan and Samaraweera, and even Hashan, from the series aerages and the way they batted. As for the bowling, the Australians had Gillespie, Lee, Kasper and Warne, with other bowlers giving good support. The Lankans had just 2 bowlers who could take wickets- Vaas and Murali, while Zoysa and Kaushal were average and the rest, pathetic. The lead bowlers had no support at all.

No doubt the Lankans were competitive, but they lacked the quality to keep up the intensity and challenge, as it ended a one-sided contest each time. Besides, the Australians played a lot better as a team.

 

[V Reddy]

I agree with Arjun on Sri Lanka atm. Their batting only revolves around Sanath, Marvan and Kumar and on the bowling front just Vaas amd Murali and so i doubt they would perform any better in SL against Aus.

 

[Baggygreen]

Is this series for real what a dead set waste of time and energy.

CA has completely lost it's nerve by wasting the chance to play SL over the summer and attracting big crowds to the major test venues, they instead play them on dodgy pitches (which I think is great because it beats the same old batting friendly pitches the Australian curators have dished up to the touring sides in the last couple of years) and without Murali they are an ordinary side, the only good thing that will come of this series is the young quickie SL have unearthed Malinga isn't it??

Well that is the only positive from both sides I have seen so far and probably will be the only positive to come out of a very boring, dull series.

 

[age_master]

To be fair to SL, that 3-0 series loss was much closer than it looked. It could have easily been 3-0 to SL or 1-1, etc.

but it wasn't.

 

[Adamc]

I agree with Arjun on Sri Lanka atm. Their batting only revolves around Sanath, Marvan and Kumar and on the bowling front just Vaas amd Murali and so i doubt they would perform any better in SL against Aus.

Give Jayawardene some credit. He averages more than the other three I think.

 

[tooextracool]

Give Jayawardene some credit. He averages more than the other three I think.

if there was an award for 'the most home orientated batsman', jayawardene would win it hands down.

Home 57.23
Away 35.58

 

[Adamc]

Check your stats. Jayawardene averages 37.64 away from home, which is more than Jayasuriya (35.65). Atapattu averages 39.98 and Sangakkara 50.88 away from home. Clearly, Jayawardene contributes about as much as Jayasuriya and Atapattu, hence you can't say that the batting lineup revolves solely around the top 3.

 

[Arjun]

MAhela would average a lot less if you did not consider his stats against Zimbabwe. Besides, his average in the recent past was quite bad.

 

[Adamc]

MAhela would average a lot less if you did not consider his stats against Zimbabwe. Besides, his average in the recent past was quite bad.

So would Atapattu.

 

[Jnr.]

Atapattu's averages (Tests)

Eng 43.07
Aus 24.75
SA 25.84
WI 44.00
NZ 19.13
Ind 35.81
Pak 34.68
Zim 95.42
Bang 110.50

He's a minnow basher.

 

[dude]

out of the above stats. dont disregard how many times attapattu has played against zim and bang.

i've always felt mahela needs to feel that he has to fight for his place in the team, he seems to have gotten complacent. i agree with those who say he hasnt performed or played a big innings to warrant a place in the SL team.


i also agree that sri lanka is very dependant on sanath. as they had been dependent on aravinda for many years. but aravinda alone could not bring sri lanka into the top spot of world cricket, it was indeed when the likes of santh,kalu,vaas and murali performed did they win the world cup and sanath did not perform his magic at 96 WC overnight., he had many many failures before that as a opener, however the selectors persisted with him. so i think we should give arnold some credit guys, he had been dropped for awhile and he is just returning to the test side. i feel arnold has alot of potential and once averaged 40+ (consistently) in ODI's.

saman jaynatha just smashed 147 N.O. (i believe) in england and he is a prospect for sri lanka. he needs to be utilised fast as (if im not mistaken) he is in his 30's now.

Thilina kandamby is also another future prospect who needs to be given some exposure.

avishka does not have the proper technique to thrive as test batsmen.

the 2nd test will be interesting but highly unlikely to produce a different result from the 1st unless the Sri lankans decide to play their normal aggressive game. if they go into batting with an idea of playing a long innings they almost always end up getting out.

 

[Bapu Rao Swami]

Atapattu's averages (Tests)

Eng 43.07
Aus 24.75
SA 25.84
WI 44.00
NZ 19.13
Ind 35.81
Pak 34.68
Zim 95.42
Bang 110.50

He's a minnow basher.

Talking of skipper Attapattu.

What also stands out in Atapattu's career stats is his propensity to be dismissed early: he's been nailed for single-digit scores a whopping 45 times – that's nearly 40% of his total innings (excluding innings when he's been unbeaten for less than 10). Being an opener, it's more likely that he'd succumb early in the innings when the ball is new and the bowlers fresh, but Atapattu's percentage is still alarmingly high. Compare those numbers with another modern-day opener's: in 52 such innings, Mark Richardson has fallen for a sub-ten score only on 11 occasions, a mere 21% of the time. In fact, among the top six players who have been dismissed for a sub-10 score most often (min. qual: 50 innings and an average of 35), four are middle-order batsmen.

I feel Lanka needs a batsman who can simply stick out there when the going gets tough, kindaa anchor the innings like Kallis, Thorpe and Inzamam do.

You have Jayasurya who plans on scoring runs from the first ball, Sangakaara gets trapped many times when field placements are changed, he has not matured thus not good enough to be skipper. Jaywardhane is good and has improved. SL need an overhaul of their entire test cricket culture. Why is it that they can compete anywhere, against anyone in ODIs but not in tests away from the sub-continent.

Not to take anything away from Pontings men (they're an awesome outfit with top class bowlers like Jayasurya mentioned yesterday) but SL needs a motivator on tour...they lack patience.

I think Jayawardhane should be your next skipper or perhaps even Muralitharan.