Herath keen on Melbourne, Sydney

Tuesday, 18 December 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Five scalps at seamer-friendly Bellerive has Sri Lankan wicket machine Rangana Herath licking his lips at the prospect of bowling in Melbourne and Sydney.

Herath rocketed back to the top of the Test wicket-taking list for 2012 with a five-wicket haul against Australia in the first Test.

The left-armer’s 5-95 took him back past England’s Graeme Swann with 60 wickets for the calendar year at an average of 22.40.

Swann had 59 at 29.93 with the last day of his Test season underway against India in Nagpur.

It’s taken 34-year-old Herath most of his career to step out of the shadow of Test great Muttiah Muralitharan but he said Australians would see more of what he’s got at the more spin-friendly MCG and SCG.

“In Melbourne and Sydney, from what I’ve heard, it looks like it’s some help for the spinners so that’s a good start, taking five wickets from here,” he said. “That’s a good achievement. This is my first game playing in a Test match in Australia so I’m really happy with the way I bowled.”

Herath broke Australia’s century opening stand by removing Dave Warner to keep Sri Lankan hopes alive and then mopped up the tail.

He now has 174 Test wickets at 29.67 in 42 matches since his debut at home against Australia in 1999.

Australian coach Mickey Arthur said facing Herath in Melbourne and Sydney would be a good warm-up for the tour to spin-haven India in February.

“He’s got a phenomenal record this year, so hopefully that goes some way to giving us a little snippet of playing Ojha or Jadeja, whoever it is, in India,” Arthur said. “(We’re) looking forward to that confrontation through the summer.”