Fickle weather makes teams wary of finalising their 11

 Captains Dhananjaya de Silva and Steve Smith display Warne-Murali Trophy amidst cultural display with iconic Galle Fort in background 

• Seventh Warne-Murali trophy series commence at Galle today

Sa’adi Thawfeeq reporting 

from Galle

The Galle International Cricket Stadium is traditionally known to assist spin and at times the wicket has been described as a dust bowl, but the fickle weather experienced around the countryside has made both teams wary of finalising their eleven for the first cricket Test of the seventh Warne-Murali Trophy which begins here today.

Yesterday at practice the sun hardly made an appearance and for most part it was overcast and cloudy with a sprinkle of rain on and often.

“The wicket looks a bit different to what we usually get. I don’t think it will spin from ball one,” said Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva. “It’s a good wicket and with the moisture around I feel it will get better. After day three I think it will start spinning. We need to play our best cricket here.”

“We haven’t decided on an eleven as of now as the weather patterns are changing. I have to speak to the selectors and we will take a final call in the morning.”

Pathum Nissanka recovering from a strained groin is still recovering and has been ruled out of today’s game. Oshada Fernando is expected to replace him and open the batting with Dimuth Karunaratne who will be playing in his 99th Test match.

The rest of the Lankan batting will remain untouched with Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis (wk).

The challenge for the captain, coach and the selectors lie in the bowling combination whether they should go with two seamers and two spinners, three seamers and one spinner or with one seamer and three spinners. If Sri Lanka go with two and two it will be Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya and Nishan Peiris. 

That challenge lies not only with Sri Lanka but with Australia as well.

Steve Smith back in the saddle as Test Captain said, “I am not sure about the actual 11 yet, but yes, Travis (Head) will bat at the top. Things have obviously changed since yesterday and the wicket is a bit different. Will have another look tomorrow morning and decide. Ideally, we would like to decide the playing eleven two days before and move forward. But things changed rapidly over here and we will wait till the last minute and see how it goes.”

“We have been weighing up all sorts of things, we could be playing no seamers. We have to think about a few things. Two spinners or five spinners. Will see how it goes. Come down tomorrow morning and see how the wicket is and then make a final decision.”

On the wicket, Smith who is one run short of 10,000 Test runs said, “It’s pretty dry and not much grass really. I think it will take some spin at some point. Whether it is from ball one or a bit later I am not sure.”

“Last time we came, we played on one that spun from ball one and the other one was pretty flat in the first innings and then spun a lot in the second innings. So, just have plans for both kinds of surfaces. If it is extreme from the outset then you need to be proactive and follow different methods to score runs. Just adapt to it as quickly as possible to get what you get.”

“I think the game has changed a lot since I first came to the sub-continent. Guys play different shots to put pressure on the bowlers. The game has evolved a lot in the last ten years and it’s good to see some of the shots these guys play and take the game forward.”

Apart from Head batting at the top of the order, Australia are weighing the possibility of debuting English-born Jos Inglis ahead of Sam Konstas who lost his place as opener to Head. 

“Jos is quite comfortable with where his game is at. He has been around for a while now and played a lot of cricket but yet to play a Test match. He gives really good skills against spin. He scores all around the wicket. He has a very good defence. He is someone who, if he gets an opportunity, will get a good job done.”

On returning to the Test Captaincy, Smith said, “Looking forward to it. It should be good fun. Enjoy leading in these conditions, I understand the subcontinent pretty well in terms of what’s needed at certain times and things like that. Good fun it’s going to be.”

This is the final series of the 2023-25 World Test Championship. Australia have already qualified to play in the final, while Sri Lanka missed out after being in contention for some time.

“We were close to the WTC final. We have a good side but we were unlucky in certain games. If you take the two Tests we lost to Pakistan (at home) that was a big drawback. We intend to finish the series well and if we can get to number three, we will be satisfied,” said De Silva.

Despite Australia having already qualified for the WTC final Smith said, “Every Test you play for your country you want to win. It’s going to be a good challenge. Last time we came, it was 1-1. Sri Lanka is a very good side with a lot of experience, so it’s going to be a competitive series.”