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Burns wins praise despite twin failures

The Test hopeful found an ally in Scott Boland as he presses his case to play against Sri Lanka later this month

Queensland batsman Joe Burns is not out of form and was named the "best bat in the Sheffield Shield" ahead of next week's opening Domain Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba.

That's the opinion of Cricket Australia XI teammate Scott Boland, who tipped the opening batsman to fire if selected in the Test XI to face Sri Lanka at the Gabba next week. 

Burns, the CA XI captain for this pink-ball tour match against the visiting Lankans, squandered both opportunities to make a statement with national selector Greg Chappell watching on from the dressing room. 

Burns was dismissed for 4 and 22 in his two innings, twice caught in the slips cordon looking to play aggressive shots to back-of-a-length deliveries wide of the off stump.

"Disappointed," Boland said of the mood in the dressing room, which was further soured when Matthew Renshaw was also dismissed cheaply for the second time in the match with scores of 7 and 10. 

"When the ball is brand new it's the hardest time to bat and as soon as the lacquer goes off it makes it a touch easier. 

"They'd be disappointed with how they went but I don't think they'd be out of form. 

"We played against Joe Burns in the (second) last Shield game before Christmas and he batted really well.

"He was the best bat we came up against in the Shield season. 

"I'm sure if he gets picked in the Test side in the coming weeks he'll be fine and ready to go."

Burns scored 96 and an unbeaten 24 as Queensland romped to an eight-wicket win against Victoria at the Gabba in the fifth round of the JLT Sheffield Shield. 

Marnus Labuschagne was unbeaten on 33 at stumps on the second evening of this three-day match, and will have the chance to post a big score that could make his Test spot secure on Saturday afternoon. 

He had earlier claimed 2-27 from nine overs of his leg-spin. 

"He bowled really well and his energy in the field is like it always is, he's really up and about," Boland said. 

"It's good for the team. 

"With the bat he looked pretty solid there. Hopefully he can go and get some more runs tomorrow.

"If they want him to bat in the top six and bowl some overs he'll be ready to go."

Boland was the pick of the seamers for the CA XI with 2-37 from 16 overs against a Sri Lankan side that had little interest in scoring as they meandered to 5-176 before declaring at the pre-arranged 75-over mark. 

"We bowled really well and could have had two or three wickets easily there, they played and missed a fair bit," Boland said of the CA XI spell when the pink Kookaburra was at its newest and hardest. 

"This afternoon with the sun out there wasn't really any swing or seam but the ball … it just goes soft pretty quickly. Once that happened we had to change our plans pretty quick."

Boland got his first wicket after adopting a short-pitch strategy, peppering Dimuth Karunaratne before outfoxing him with a full ball to win an lbw verdict. 

Scott Boland Interview

And if the Gabba keeps more grass on the surface to protect the pink ball, Boland is tipping Australia's Test seamers will cause the Lankans trouble. 

"When they get to the Gabba and face some guys who are bowling pretty quick, they might test them upstairs," the Victorian predicted. 

The CA XI already lead by 239 runs, and they are likely to set a target at some point during tomorrow's final day, and there's no guarantee talented youngster Will Pucovski will get a second bat in this match. 

"We'll definitely have a bowl at some stage," Boland said. "We'll bat on a bit, I'm not sure what the plans of the captain and the coach are.

"It will be up to them if they want to make a game of it, if they want to chase the runs we put up."

The final day of the CA XI v Sri Lanka tour match beings at 1.52pm AEDT, starting eight minutes early to make up for time lost to rain on the second evening. The match will be live streamed on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app and on Cricket Australia's YouTube channel. 

Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka

Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Will Pucovski, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha

CA XI: Joe Burns (c), Kurtis Patterson (vc), Scott Boland, Jake Doran (wk), Jon Holland, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Will Pucovski, Jason Sangha, Matt Renshaw, Chris Tremain

Jan 17-19: Tour match, CA XI v SL, Hobart (D/N)

Jan 24-28: First Test, Gabba (D/N)

Feb 1-5: Second Test, Canberra