Australia shatter Sri Lanka’s Galle invincibility

Life was not easy for Sri Lanka’s batters against Australia’s penetrative bowlers

Matthew Kuhnemann (left) and Nathan Lyon, destroyers of the  Sri Lankan batting with 30 wickets between them

• It is time Test matches are moved elsewhere

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Australia’s 2-0 thrashing of Sri Lanka in both Test matches by convincing margins at the Galle International Cricket Stadium has certainly shattered the invincibility that the hosts held at Galle.

It is no longer Sri Lanka’s fortress, where they had defeated many teams and hold a 27 wins out of 48 Tests record.

The professional manner in which Australia totally outplayed Sri Lanka in the two Test matches calls for the authorities to move to other Test venues rather than stick to one all the time, where spin heavy surfaces are no longer contributing to our success but proving to be detrimental to our batting.

Sri Lankan Test Captain Dhananjaya de Silva was of the view that Sri Lanka should start playing matches at other venues in the future.

“As a batsman, I like to play at other venues too. Even for me, my records are better at other venues. In Galle, we are way behind in batting average, in comparison to other venues. It is really difficult to get these averages to a higher level in these kinds of conditions. If bowlers are to take wickets, their skill must be good. Only bowlers with good skill will take wickets on any surface. We will have to think about it in the next cycle.”

Sri Lanka have been playing Test matches so often at Galle that some of the opposing teams have got used to coming up with better batting and bowling performances than the host country. The recently concluded series is a glaring example. 

Having come to Sri Lanka in 2022 and playing both Test matches at Galle, winning one and losing the second, Australia made it a point that they were not going to be once bitten twice shy and made sufficient arrangements to counter the spin threat pose by the Lankan spinners at Galle, as well as reduce the effectiveness of the Lankan batsmen against their spin. In their training camp held in Dubai prior to coming to Sri Lanka, Australia got the types of wickets they wanted to train and prepare themselves assiduously for the challenge ahead. 

“We had an unbelievable training camp in Dubai – I know some people thought it was a holiday but it was exceptional training,” said Nathan Lyon, Australia’s leading spinner.

“We trained the house down and found different methods to combat different scenarios, so I’m really proud of the way the guys have gone about different methods. Everyone has got a different method or a different style, and they have trusted that.”

Australia’s stand-in Captain Steve Smith was also of the same view: “I thought the way we went about it was just outstanding. Everyone stuck to their method. The guys trained exceptionally well in Dubai and we were able to develop some wickets; we wanted to work on some things and then, when we came here, similarly our guys did the same.”

“It is just about controlling our lengths as much as possible. I do not think Sri Lanka bowled badly by any stretch – there were some really good spell – we just batted really well and put them under pressure, particularly the guys who were playing the sweep shot; it was tough to defend. Usie [Usman Khawaja] played 25% of his balls on sweeps or reverse sweeps – it was difficult for them to set fields to – [Josh] Inglis was similar, so was [Alex] Carey. The key to the spinners is to bowl the ball in the good areas for as long as you can. There was enough in the surface – skid wise and spin wise; hit a good length and try and challenge your defence.”

Not one batsman managed to score a century for Sri Lanka. There were six half-centuries, the highest of which was 85* by Kusal Mendis. In comparison, Australia had five centuries, with Khawaja’s 232 being the highest. These figures reveal how, once they get set, the Australians have always gone onto make a big score, whereas Sri Lanka had failed to build on the starts they got.

In bowling, Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon were outstanding, capturing 30 of the 40 wickets to fall, averaging 19.66. The four spinners used by Sri Lanka went at 56.47 for 17 wickets.  Teams that tour Sri Lanka in the future are bound to take a leaf out of Australia’s notebook and come well prepared to tackle the spin tracks if Sri Lanka persist playing at Galle.

Rather than play into the opposition’s hands, it is better that Sri Lanka look to play Test matches at the SSC, P. Sara Oval, and Pallekele, where each venue provides a different surface to bat and bowl on, rather than be spin heavy all the time.

In the last four years since January 2021, Sri Lanka has played 15 Tests at Galle alone, compared to venues such as SSC (2 Tests), P. Sara Oval (no Tests), and Pallekele (2 Tests), in the same period.