Quantcast

Smith flirting with radical approach

Skipper discusses bowling first in first Test against Sri Lanka, which would go against six decades of Australian history

Steve Smith’s preparedness to blaze a new path as Test captain sees him flirting with the once unthinkable option of bowling first if the coin falls his way at the start of the opening Test against Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Even though the pitch at Pallekele Stadium, constructed for the 2011 World Cup in available real estate 10 kilometres from the traffic-choked hill country capital of Kandy, shows little encouragement to seamers, Smith has been doing his research.

And he's noted that in three of the four Tests played at the expansive, grass bank-fringed ground, the skipper who has won the toss has sent the opposition into bat.

Only once has that move proved successful – for Pakistan in the most recent Test here last year – mainly because the other three have ended in draws due to the regular rain showers that scud low through the high country.

But Smith, leading a Test team for the first time in subcontinental conditions, believes that bowling first might deliver a decisive advantage at the very outset of this three-Test series.

Smith today confirmed his XI for the Test starting tomorrow that includes spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe after the Australians arrived at Pallekele today to find the pitch that was moist and 'tacky' on the weekend had dried significantly and was even showing some signs of early cracking.

Warner warming for Kandy opener

While the absence of a third frontline seamer would likely discourage Smith from electing to bowl first on match morning, the skipper is well aware of the venue's short history.

"(There is a) general trend of the last four Test matches played (at Pallekele)," Smith noted.

"The first morning's been hard work for the batters and then the wicket's got better days two and three, and then started to play a few tricks later in the game."

While the recent history of this comparably new Test venue might endorse Smith’s assessment, the game’s annals underscore just how unconventional this approach dares to be.

Only three previous Australia Test captains have taken the plunge by opting to bowl first across six decades and 86 Test matches on the subcontinent and in Asian conditions.

Quick Single: Australia name XI for first Test

Richie Benaud was the first in Australia’s second visit to Pakistan at Dacca, then the capital of East Pakistan which became Bangladesh, in 1959 when damp conditions meant the match had to be played on jute matting that was stretched tight over the underdone turf pitch.

Bill Lawry followed suit when confronted by a similarly soft pitch at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 1969, in a Test match that provoked an ugly riot from disaffected local fans.

And then at the start of his team’s famous if unfulfilled 2001 tour of India, Steve Waugh gambled by unleashing Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne first on a Wankhede Stadium pitch in Mumbai that was not expected to last the distance but which Waugh backed his batters to come to grips with on the final days.

In all cases, the strategy was deemed risky but ultimately successful – Benaud’s team returning an eight-wicket win against a rival finding its way in Test ranks and Lawry and Waugh both pocketing 10-wicket triumphs.

But no Australia captain has undertaken the ploy in Sri Lanka.

O'Keefe takes 10, Aussies rout Board XI

Even though Smith’s only previous experience as a Test captain leading away from home was last February’s two-match series in oh-so-familiar conditions in New Zealand, his thoughts were galvanised during Australia’s familiarisation nets sessions at Pallekele over the weekend.

With yesterday’s conducted under heavy cloud and occasional drizzle, which meant the pitch remained under heavy plastic covers that are as much a part of cricket in these parts as the rolling hillscape.

"It swung around a little bit in the nets (yesterday) and the wickets were probably pretty similar to how it would be on the first morning of a Test match,” Smith said ahead of Australia’s final light training run at the ground today.

“So it was a good challenge for our batters on our main training day, and the overhead (conditions) can make a bit of a difference.

“If you're able to bowl first and bowl well, it will be about us making sure we bat big in the first innings and ideally bat once.

“But we'll wait and see how it looks the morning of the Test.”

With conditions at Galle (where the second Test will be played) are expected to heavily favour the spinners and Colombo, where it will be oppressively humid for the third Test, likely to be similar, Kandy represents the conditions least alien to the Australians.

Captain's column: Smith calls for subcontinental shift

But Smith does not see significant differences between pitches and playing conditions in Sri Lanka to those in India where most of his squad has experience in the IPL and the recent ICC World T20 tournament.

"I don't think there's a huge difference (between Sri Lankan and Indian pitches)," he said.

"I think just playing in these conditions you have to be more adaptable to play different tempos of the game.

"Playing in Australia you can be attacking quite a lot of the time (when bowling), but in these conditions you have to have that defensive sort of mindset at the same time - having a couple of guys out (in the deep) and building some pressure.

"Being nice and patient, and when the ball starts doing something, whether it's turning or reverse swinging or the new ball that swings, then you can start attacking.

"It's about making sure that for me, as captain, picking the right times to attack and the right times to be a little more defensive and just being really smart with that."