Skills more challenging than speed: Finch

Australia have played Sri Lanka only once in the Test or ODI arena in the past two years – in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy where Sri Lanka triumphed by 20 runs – and prevailing wisdom would suggest fast bowlers in Sydney’s fast bowler-friendly conditions would have the home team a strong chance to overturn that result when these sides square off again in their crucial World Cup Pool A match on Sunday.

Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, in his last World Cup campaign, dismissed suggestions that the frailties his team has been known to exhibit against raw pace in previous visits to Australia have not inflicted any lingering scars.

“They are quick and we have faced lot of quicks in the tournament,” said the 37-year-old who has been a mainstay of Sri Lanka’s batting for almost two decades.

“You can be quick, but if you are not accurate you can go for runs as fast as they bowl.

“In Test cricket you get a few guys hit, but our guys have hit them (Australia batsmen) as well.

“Those scars won’t be there.

“We have good memories of winning here (in Sydney) and at the MCG.”

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And, indeed, of Brisbane where on their previous tour to Australia Sri Lanka’s seam attack led by Nuwan Kulasekara (who took 5-22) and Lasith Malinga (3-14) skittled Michael Clarke’s team for 74, Australia’s lowest completed ODI innings total in 30 years.

Which might partly explain opening batsman Aaron Finch’s observation that it is not the bowling attack built on brute speed but rather those teams with bowlers who can swing the ball and boast variation as much as velocity that pose the greatest threat.

Especially to top-order batsmen, when the two white balls now employed in the 50-over are new and swinging.

And it’s Sri Lanka’s top-order, which boasts Jayawardene, prolific opener Tillakaratne Dilshan and two of the tournament’s in-form batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne, that looms as Australia’s most obvious impediment to finishing second in Pool A.

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“In terms of pace, I don't think that worries people a hell of a lot,” Finch said.

“I think guys who can move the ball in the air are a much bigger threat.

“At the moment we've got three guys in the side who played last game (Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood) who can swing the ball and that's more of an effect than genuine out-and-out pace.

“When you combine the two together it's a pretty nice combination to have.

“(Malinga) is definitely up there with their most dangerous. When you've got guys like Lakmal and Kulasekara who can swing the ball, that's a big asset to have.

“Malinga has got all the tricks – great yorker, slower ball, bouncer, he can swing it as well – so as a whole their attack is pretty balanced.

“Lakmal bowls outswing, Kulusekara bowls inswing, and Malinga with a totally different action is someone different altogether.”

Both teams trained at the SCG today, though Australia’s was an optional session that saw all but the fast bowlers (Johnson, Starc and Hazlewood) as well as allrounder Glenn Maxwell take part, while Pat Cummins continued his rehabilitation from a side injury and did not bowl.

For all the advantages of playing a World Cup on home soil, Finch concedes the travel schedule his team has endured to date has presented its share of challenges and made momentum an elusive commodity.

Heading into Sunday’s fixture, the Australians have racked up more air miles than any other team in the 14-nation tournament with the exception of Afghanistan.

From Melbourne to Brisbane, then to Auckland and – in the past five days – two cross-continental long-haul flights from New Zealand to Perth and then back to Sydney has meant the tournament co-host has been left to feel a little like a travel-weary touring team. 

But Finch, who began the campaign with a century in the opener against England but has missed out in the two matches Australia has played in the three weeks since then, says that while the routine presents its problems it also delivers the occasional benefit.

“It’s been difficult,” he said of a schedule that has seen the Australians spend as much time in airport lounges and watching in-flight movies as they have in the practice nets over the past week.

“Any time you’re changing time zones as much as Auckland to Perth it’s quite tough.

“But we did everything possible to counteract that, and to get in (to Sydney) last night and have optional training today there’s no excuse for the boys not to be fresh and up for the game on Sunday.

“It’s just a part of the job and it’s a World Cup – you just embrace everything about it, you don’t complain and just get on with it.

“I think that’s important as a batsman especially, when you’re in good form to play consistently is invaluable.

“When you play and then have a long break you spend so much time training you almost forget how it felt in the middle and you have to go through all the process again of when to peak at the right time.

“But when you have that time then any changes you need to make in your game you’ve got plenty of time to do it and that’s one of the real positives to come of it.

“Although we lost a lot of momentum going into the New Zealand game, and it felt like a (repeat of the) huge build-up going into the first game of the tournament again, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“We will have played three times in a week after this game (on Sunday) so that will be good for everyone to have plenty of hits in the middle and really make sure we’re peaking at the right time of the tournament.”

The winner of Sunday’s game will likely finish in second place in Pool A, with the loser expected to finish third and therefore on track for a quarter-final showdown with pre-tournament favourite South Africa.

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Jayawardene faces the press at the SCG // cricket.com.au

Both camps deny that scenario will be in their thinking as they take to the field on Sunday.

Jayawardene, a veteran of five World Cup campaigns and a century maker in the 2011 final against India, claimed that plotting a path beyond the group stage was fraught with danger.

“In a World Cup it’s the best ones that get into the knockout stages,” he said.

“I don’t think trying to avoid teams is healthy.”

His thoughts were echoed by Finch who then went on to acknowledge that placings at the end of the group phase, while not a direct concern heading into any match, are undoubtedly significant.

“I don’t think it matters about who you play,” Finch said when asked about the motivation Australia would find in trying to potentially avoid South Africa in the quarter-final round.

“To win a World Cup you have to beat the best teams in the world.

“But this game is important – you don’t want to finish in the bottom two of your group because that can make things a bit harder with the path to the final if you go that far.”