Debutants loom as SL's stocks dwindle

The injury curse that dogged Sri Lanka throughout their recent tour to the UK has continued into the upcoming home series against Australia, forcing the touring party to trawl through archival video libraries to gain some insights into who they will be facing over coming weeks.

While Australia captain Steve Smith was able to confidently name his starting XI a day before the opening Test of the three-match series gets underway tomorrow, his opposing captain Angelo Mathews was able to deliver no such clarity.

Quick Single: Australia name XI for first Test

Which came as no surprise to those who have seen Sri Lanka’s seam bowling stocks dwindle through injury and suspension as their winless Test and ODI series against England ground on last month.

Mathews had hoped that a decision about seamer Suranga Lakmal’s availability due to his sore hamstring would have been made today, but given the comparative rawness of other pace options the 29-year-old ‘veteran’ of 28 Tests has been given until tomorrow morning to prove he’s fit.

Meaning that Mathews won’t know the make-up of the team that he will lead into the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy Series opener until shortly before the coin toss.

Image Id: ~/media/CF82A222EB2A41489AF876BBD0662410 Image Caption: The two skippers with the trophy // Getty

Given the success and the stability that Sri Lanka enjoyed during the era of champion spinner Muthiah Muralidaran and then the combined talents of recently retired trio Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mathews was asked at today’s pre-Test media conference if he saw himself as a jinxed skipper.

"I don’t know what to call myself," he replied as he pondered a bowling line-up minus front line quicks Dhammika Prasad (shoulder), Dushmantha Chameera (back stress fracture) and Shaminda Eranga (banned for illegal action) as well as leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay (finger).

"It has been a very frustrating few months.

"Not only one bowler, we’ve lost so many.

"Vandersay is one of our key bowlers in the spin department. 

"Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera are two of our key seam bowlers so it’s very frustrating to see them going down. 

"We need to try and look for more new players and get them ready and fit.

Image Id: ~/media/7ADADF9AF82740F58EAD2C7A8524F82C Image Caption: Mathews at training in Kandy this week // Getty

"We can’t always keep saying the bowlers are injured. 

"We haven’t got that many bowlers. We need to try and find them if we don’t have them. 

"Unfortunately, all of our top bowlers are playing all three formats (of the international game) except for (T20 specialist) Lasith Malinga. 

"It’s very hard to divide those players when it comes to Tests, one-dayers and Twenty20s. 

Captain's column: Smith calls for subcontinental shift

"We haven’t got a wide range of choices to make and pick from.

"The bowlers who are fit – they’ve got no choice but to play all three formats."

The uncertain, unsettled scenario facing Sri Lanka’s selection panel, headed by former Test captain and World Cup winning opener Sanath Jayasuriya, is exemplified by them naming a squad of 15 for this opening Test which will be re-evaluated before the second match in Galle.

And then again prior to the third Test in Colombo later next month.

The only surety that Mathews could deliver today was the make-up of his top-order batting line-up, built around incumbent openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva, 21-year-old Kusal Mendis at number three and vice-captain/wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal at four.

Image Id: ~/media/13E94CBAD2094CC4B94A9359A33D3155 Image Caption: Mathews and Chandimal will be key wickets for Australia // Getty

With Mathews himself to keep his preferred berth at five, he confirmed that the number six spot is "vacant" and could be filled by either 24-year-old Dhananjaya de Silva or 27-year-old Roshen Silva, neither of whom has played a Test match.

The omission of Lahiru Thirimanne, who was dropped after two Tests in England having averaged 24 across 26 Tests stretching over five years, means Mathews looms as the cornerstone of his team’s batting and he has already been placed on notice by Australia opening bowler Mitchell Starc.

Quick Single: Starc fires pre-series shot at Mathews

"As a senior player in the team and the captain, they will obviously target me," Mathews said today when asked about Starc’s recent claim that the Australians had him in their sights.

"When you become a senior you get targeted a lot more.

"It is going to be a good challenge – we all know he (Starc) is one of the quickest bowlers in the world."

And with similar uncertainty surrounding his bowling personnel, it seems likely that at least one of uncapped trio Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando (seamers) and left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan could also be in line for a Test debut.

Which has sent the Australia squad, and most pointedly their data analyst and former England batting coach Dene Hills, scouring through available video resources to find vision of the newcomers to help the tourists formulate some batting and bowling plans.

"We’ve watched plenty of footage, or as much footage as we could find," Smith said today, conceding it was uncommon for so many players of limited international exposure to front up at the same juncture at Test level.

"I think they’ve got potentially five debutants so it was tough to get some footage on that.

"But we know what we’re coming up against.

"We had a look at them, we saw most of them play in England and hopefully we can exploit that a little bit.

"It is rare, they are in a bit of a transformation phase at the moment but so are we.

"We’ve got quite a few new players as well having lost about seven of our senior players less than a year ago.

"So this series will be a difficult one for us."

That perceived difficulty is largely built around Australia’s poor recent record in subcontinental conditions, a history they have worked hard to redress at the start of this tour by arriving in Sri Lanka more than a fortnight before the opening Test.

And by enlisting the aid of Muralidaran, Sri Lanka’s most successful cricketer and the leading wicket taker in both Tests and ODIs, as a consultant coach who has worked with Australia’s bowlers and batters over the past two weeks.

A move that has raised eyebrows and even the ire of some in his home land, where he continues to live in Kandy when not pursuing a number of other short-term coaching roles around the world.

But Mathews brushed aside those concerns when asked about Muralidaran’s involvement with the touring team – against his own country and in a series for which the trophy at stake bears his name – claiming he was simply a professional cricket coach pursuing his employment opportunities.

"I think it’s not an issue, anyone is allowed to do any job," said Mathews who played alongside Muralidaran in five Tests for Sri Lanka between 2009 and 2010.

"We also can take him in the future.

"The Aussies have taken him to get as much information as possible, and no one can stop that. 

"They (former greats) have played the game and if they want to pursue coaching and consultancy roles, I don’t see an issue.

"We have to appreciate what he did as a cricketer.

"The Australians obviously saw value in his knowledge of Sri Lankan conditions."