Ben Sutherland, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As much as I’ve enjoyed the white ball games between Australia and Sri Lanka, seeing the boys in their white kit reminds me how much I love test cricket. For some, it is the antithesis of what televised sport should be – it’s slow (multi-day!), thoughtful, there’s no brawling and the mullet count is limited. And god help you if you watch motor racing and whinge to me about 5 day cricket. Round and round and round and round…
But as per my M.O. I digress. This limited test series (2 in total) was always going to be intriguing, with spin friendly pitches and the wily SL spin squad ready to test the Aussie batsmen, particularly the newbs. But as day 1 showed us, this goes two ways. Nate the Great Lyon showed why he is (or at least should be) a lock in the Australian squad. Spin, flight and the kind of bounce that global investors are hoping for caused all sorts of trouble for the Sri Lankan batsmen and scooped him 5 wickets for the innings. What was equally pleasing to see was his leg spinning partner, Mitchell Swepson, at the other end dropping some nasty on the Sri Lankans. His first two wickets came in consecutive balls and were absolute peaches and as unplayable as my betamax copy of “Footloose“. And the kid almost didn’t play.
Speaking of kids though, Dickwella helped remind us that Swepson will need some time and support. The leggie lost his nerve a little during Dickwella’s playful half century but given further experience and more trust in his stock ball (great culinary product idea for cricket lovers – stock balls) he should be able to weather those periods and help close an innings down. If it wasn’t for Dickwella, Sri Lanka’s total would have looked as poorly as Marilyn Manson’s complexion. Speaking of Dickwella, how wonderful is that surname? No, no, not for the reasons your potty minds are thinking of. It’s just the way it rolls off the tongue. Oh really? You’re going there now? I have to find myself a more cultured audience.
The Australian innings began confidently and it almost looked like they’d be covering the Sri Lankan total before that end of days play. Warner was looking good on 25 runs off only 24 balls until he was undone by the spin of Wanigamuni. As for Labuschagne, well there just seems to be something out of whack with his game at times. He played right into Sri Lanka’s plans with a crappy reverse sweep straight into the hands of backward point. Khawaja looked as wonderfully composed as he has in all his previous test outings. Well, until he ran out Steve Smith. Whoops. I’m not sure what get’s said when he walks past Smith in the dressing room at the end of the day’s play however I can imagine it’d have some chilli on it. The Aussies made their way to 3 for 98 at stumps, with Khawaja and Head at the helm.
Roll on day 2!
