Spinning pitches hold no fear for Stars

The slow, turning pitches of Sri Lanka hold no fear for the touring Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars ahead of Sunday’s tour opener at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.

The Australians will today return to the nets following yesterday’s four-hour bus trip to the north-east of the island nation, with adaptability at the forefront of their plans in what is the maiden bilateral series between the two nations.

Speaking with cricket.com.au in Dambulla, head coach Matthew Mott said he’s confident a spin brigade featuring the likes of Jess Jonassen, Kristen Beams, Erin Osborne, and Grace Harris can wreak havoc if the pitches show any sign of turn.

“I think our batters certainly enjoyed batting on it,” Mott said of the pitch used for Thursday’s intra-squad match in Colombo.

“We’ve got a very strong spin attack with four or five good spin options.

“We can adapt to these conditions, definitely.

“I don’t think (the pitches) are massively different at the moment.

“Particularly the one-day wickets and the T20 wickets, they’re pretty similar to what we’re used to.”

Sunday’s clash is the only ODI of the four on the tour in which the victor will not be rewarded with points in the ICC Championship, and Mott admits selection for the series opener presents a dilemma as they aim to settle on a suitable bowling group to take on the eighth-ranked Sri Lankans.

“We’re going to pick the in-form attack at the time,” Mott said.

“There were a few players that put their hand up in the game yesterday.

“Everyone in this touring party is going to play a part at some point of time in this series.

“That first XI is going to be really hard to pick.”

The Southern Stars are also looking to carefully manage key personnel ahead of what looms as a busy five-month period for the national players.

Allrounder Jonassen and speedster Megan Schutt both spent significant time recovering from knee injuries in the off-season, while star duo Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry are managing niggles of their own.

Despite training strongly on Wednesday following a right-shoulder injury that ruled her out of England’s T20 Super League, Lanning didn’t bat during the warm-up match at R. Premadasa Stadium, while Perry played a minor role with the ball following a blistering hitting display earlier in the day.

Both players remain on track to play a significant role throughout the tour.

“We’ve got some niggles,” Mott said.

“Our captain (Lanning) is under a bit of a cloud, Ellyse Perry is going well but she’s had a few niggles as well.

“Kate Mahony the physio has been very busy getting everyone up and about.

“The next 24 hours are going to be critical in seeing what the make-up of our XI is.

“Going forward we’re probably going to have to manage our bowlers because it’s such a tight schedule.”

While Australia are likely to vary their bowling attack across the matches in Dambulla and Colombo, Mott is confident the batting side of things remains settled.

Nicole Bolton, Beth Mooney and Lanning formed the top order during the side’s most recent ODI campaign – a 2-1 series win over New Zealand in February - while Perry and Alex Blackwell have well and truly established themselves in the middle of the order.

“We’re pretty set on our batting line-up,” Mott said as his side aims to guarantee their place in next year’s ODI World Cup in England with a three-nil sweep in the Championship matches.

“Probably where the changes will come about are the bowlers.

“We’re blessed with a lot of good options with the ball and we bat deep as well.

“We keep talking to the players about adaptability and being able to play any role that’s in front of them.

“We’ve got that flexibility within our squad, but we also want to get a bit of a structure going forward leading into the next World Cup.”

Squads

Australia: Meg Lanning (captain), Alex Blackwell (vice-captain), Kristen Beams, Nicole Bolton, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani.

Sri Lanka: Chamari Atapattu (c), Prasadini Weerakkody (vc), Dilani Manodara, Nipuni Hansika, Chamari Polgampola, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasooriya, Inoshi Fernando, Imalka Mendis, Ama Kanchana, Harshitha Madhavi.

Fixtures

First ODI: Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, 18 September at 2:20pm AEST

Second ODI*: Rangiri Dambulla Stadium, 20 September at 2:20pm AEST

Third ODI*: R. Premadasa Stadium, 23 September at 2:20pm AEST

Fourth ODI*: R. Premadasa Stadium, 25 September at 2:20pm AEST

T20: SSC Ground, 27 September at 6:30pm AEST

*ICC Championship matches

You can follow regular updates from Australia’s tour match, four ODIs and T20 in Sri Lanka at @SouthernStars on Twitter.