Australian tour to Sri Lanka, 2011

[Chandan]

Few other replacements are interesting as well. It will be quite a fun to see how these young players shape up for Australia in future. The full squad selection ans the reasonings behind it: Link Australia still keen on Beer in Test team Scott Spits July 26, 2011 Australia is set to again turn to spinner Michael Beer as its primary slow Test bowling option for next month's tour of Sri Lanka. Beer was today included in Australia’s 15-man squad, along with untried offspinner Nathan Lyon. Beer, who made his debut in the fifth and final Ashes Test in January, and the uncapped Lyon were included, while spinning allrounder Steve Smith was dropped. Neither Beer, 27, who was born and raised in Melbourne but now represents Western Australia, or South Australia's Lyon, 23, have Cricket Australia contracts. None of CA’s contracted spinners, Smith - Jason Krejza, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Hauritz - were included in the squad. After the dumping of veteran opener Simon Katich this year, selectors named Phil Hughes in the squad in confirmation he will open the batting with Shane Watson. Usman Khawaja, who also made his debut in Sydney, will vie for the No.6 batting position with the uncapped Shaun Marsh, as Ricky Ponting is likely to return for the first Test, in Galle starting August 31. Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said Beer deserved to keep his spot. "It will be an important tour for Michael on grounds where we expect spin to play a major role," Hilditch told the Cricket Australia website. "The squad also sees the inclusion of Nathan Lyon, a talented young spinner who impressed all last season and bowled extremely well on Australia A's tour of Zimbabwe. "Nathan may be a surprise selection, but he impressed all who have seen him in the last year and bowled beautifully during the one-day component of the A squad's recent tour where he was named player of the series." Selectors also turned to young quicks James Pattinson and Trent Copeland to support Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris. The inclusion of Victoria's Pattinson, who made his one-day international debut in May against Bangladesh, and Copeland (NSW) mean Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger were overlooked and pushed down the pecking order. "Ben Hilfenhaus did not have as good an Ashes series as he would have liked and we feel he needs to get back to his best, swinging the ball late and hitting the bat hard," Hilditch said. "We are sure he will do this and he will be very much in contention for selection on the upcoming tour to South Africa. "Doug Bollinger has been left out of the Test squad. The national selection panel feels he needs to improve his ability to bowl spells at full intensity and maintain it over the course of a match, particularly in these days of back-to-back Tests." The Australian squad for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka is: Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson (vice-capt), Michael Beer, Trent Copeland, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle.

[Cricket Tragic]

Krejza didn't make the squad because of his performance in Zim but Khawaja couldn't buy a run on the tour either.

[Chandan]

Selectors also turned to young quicks James Pattinson and Trent Copeland to support Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris.

Anyone knows about these two? Which states do they play for and what have they done to be selected in a test squad? Were these two also there in the A squad?

[gult]

Should be a good series, although I think SL will win convincingly

[Cricket Tragic]

Anyone knows about these two? Which states do they play for and what have they done to be selected in a test squad? Were these two also there in the A squad?

Copeland is seen solely as a test match bowler and people have big expectations from him. He has had an outstanding start to his FC career. Pattinson is steady. I don't think that he is anything exceptional.

[punjabi_khota]

The selectors called up seam bowler Trent Copeland ahead of the centrally contracted Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus, and picked Nathan Lyon and Michael Beer over the four centrally contracted spinners, Nathan Hauritz (who is injured), Xavier Doherty, Jason Krejza and Steve Smith. This time last year Lyon, an off-spinner, was actually working on the groundstaff at the Adelaide Oval. South Australia's coach Darren Berry spotted him bowling in the nets, and picked him for the Twenty20 squad in the Big Bash. He did well, and ended up playing four first class games last summer, in which he took 12 wickets at 43 runs each. Which was enough to earn him his Test call-up on a tour where he will have to bowl to Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in their home conditions. At least he should be able read the pitches.

[Square Drive]

Should be a good series this.. After a long time it's going to be all Sri Lankan coaching staff.. batting, bowling, fielding and the head coach. I guess even the physio is a Sri Lankan for this series.

[Cricket Tragic]

Excellent first day for Australia in their tour match. 5 wickets for Copeland. His FC record is very impressive and people have been talking about him for a while. Anyone seen much of him? http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-australia-2011/engine/current/match/516211.html

[TumTum]

Excellent first day for Australia in their tour match. 5 wickets for Copeland. His FC record is very impressive and people have been talking about him for a while. Anyone seen much of him? http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-australia-2011/engine/current/match/516211.html

Medium-fast line and length bowler. Gets movement both ways. He made an impressive debut for NSW taking heaps of wickets and becoming highest wicket taker in the season on his debut. Before he became a bowler, he was a wicket keeper. He came literally out of nowhere. Most similar to Asif, is excellent on green wickets where he is mostly unplayable.

[Cricket Tragic]

Medium-fast line and length bowler. Gets movement both ways. He made an impressive debut for NSW taking heaps of wickets and becoming highest wicket taker in the season on his debut. Before he became a bowler, he was a wicket keeper. He came literally out of nowhere. Most similar to Asif, is excellent on green wickets where he is mostly unplayable.

Cheers Thought as much because I read about comparisons with McGrath.

[Bradman99]

He is a good bowler who has achieved some fantastic results with NSW. Something like 90 wickets @ 21.

[TumTum]

Cheers Thought as much because I read about comparisons with McGrath.

NP. He is not like McGrath, he doesn't really hurry the batsman or get good bounce. He relies mostly on movement.

[Cricket Tragic]

He is a good bowler who has achieved some fantastic results with NSW. Something like 90 wickets @ 21.

Watched much of his bowling?

NP. He is not like McGrath' date=' he doesn't really hurry the batsman or get good bounce. He relies mostly on movement.[/quote'] I'm guessing he will be the 3rd seamer after Johnson and Harris. Or is it Siddle?

[cameron_black]

waterboy?

[Bradman99]

Watched much of his bowling?

Seen him a few times and he impressed me each time. Always looked dangerous.

[Crookbond]

'Australia need to live and die by the sword' - Darren Lehmann Australia's last series in Sri Lanka, in 2004, turned out to be the most unlikely of 3-0 sweeps for the visitors. In Ricky Ponting's first series as captain, the Australians trailed on first innings in each Test, and had to contend with Muttiah Muralitharan at close to his best on spinning pitches. Darren Lehmann, now the coach of Queensland, was a key figure in the victory as an aggressive batsman, left-arm spinner, and confidante of Ponting. He recalls the 2004 Australians' attitude to the series and what the 2011 tourists can learn from their succcess. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/530213.html

In 2004 you won the series 3-0 but trailed on first innings in each match. For us it was good, tough, hard cricket for five days every game, and they were pretty close games. We just managed to get our noses in front every time and win the key moments. But to be behind on the first innings of every Test match and come back and win it was down to the character of the players at that time. Was it also a strong lesson about fighting games out until late on day five on pitches that would deteriorate? That's exactly right, and in those matches we were lucky enough that we batted first in each Test, and turning up to bowl with Shane Warne in your side helped. He had an amazing series, and the difference between the two sides I thought was that Warne got a lot of the top-order batsmen out and Murali got a lot of the tail-end batsmen out, so it [Murali's tally of wickets] wasn't too bad for us. Damien Martyn and you were the standout Australian batsmen on that tour, but you used quite different styles to combat the spinners. We had two totally different ways of playing that worked well for us. He played a different style, more based on the back foot, I was more aggressive and got down the wicket. So it worked for both of us. We had a really good series. Everyone had their own plans, and as a batting group we made enough runs to win the series. What is your advice to the Australian batsmen about to embark on the same task? They're going to have to play with plans to face all those sorts of bowlers, and really live or die by the sword. Whatever plan it is, have it, believe it and implement it. At some stage if you're not picking Mendis or Herath - Murali in our case - you have to try to work your way through those issues. Work through, have a game plan, a team plan and an individual plan, and actually believe in it and implement it themselves. That 2004 side, although under a new captain, had a lot of self-assurance from past results. How can Michael Clarke's team build that without the foundation of recent success? I think confidence is the biggest thing. You've just got to communicate all the time to the players as leaders, and you've got to be happy that some players are going to play a different role and play a different way to the way you might want to play. You want team success, but individuals play differently, so they're going to have to work through those issues as well, and actually come up with a group plan and individual plans and work through all of them. In Ricky Ponting's first few series as captain you were something of a mentor, and the two of you were often seen discussing ideas on the field. Is that now Ricky's role with Clarke? I think very much so. He's going to have to play that role and be a sounding board for them all. So for him to do that he has to make sure he's ready to give any info. He's one of the greatest players of all time, so if he gives that info then he can work that through with Michael and have the best possible outcome for the players. When Michael has hard times, which he certainly is going to, they'll be making sure those times are lessened and he has the sounding board that Ricky provides as someone who's been there and done that at that level. Clarke has two young spinners in Michael Beer and Nathan Lyon. How did you deal with the task of captaining inexperienced slow bowlers? The big thing is making sure you're always playing the role in working out how to get the batsmen out, but also protecting the kid so he stays on and bowls. So you've got to find a happy medium. I think Michael, with Ricky and the senior players, will find that for our younger guys. I'm not too stressed about that - it'll be about giving the guys a chance to play and learn. "Our fast bowlers have to realise they have to get early wickets to make it easier for our young spinners. So they've got as big a part to play as anyone else" The pitches are likely to mean they will be used as attacking weapons, rather than just bowling a few overs when the fast men are spelled. Only time will tell [how the spinners are used]. But the quicks have got to get wickets with the new ball. It's one of those things they have to work through. If the quicks can get a couple of early wickets with the new ball then the spinners' job becomes easier. If it doesn't then you've got to find the right mix between pace and reverse-swing and all the other things that come in over there. Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie filled that role to perfection in 2004. They didn't take a lot of wickets but invariably grabbed one or two at the start of an innings. That's right, early wickets are the key, and I think our fast bowlers have to realise they have to get early wickets to make it easier for our young spinners. So they've got as big a part to play as anyone else. How do you view Sri Lanka's senior batting trio of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene? Three greats of the game, especially Sangakkara and Jayawardene. Dilshan will end up one as well, with his record by the end of his career, but Sangakkara is a pure genius with the bat and so is Jayawardene, so we're really going to have to nullify their influence. One opens, one bats three and one bats four, so if they have good series we're in a bit of trouble. If they don't then we're in the game. What were your plans for them in 2004? We probably bowled a lot straighter than anyone else had before, and bowled maybe more to their strengths than anything else, with different fields, and made sure we were always trying to tie up an end and let Shane Warne be really attacking at the other. If Warne wasn't getting wickets, we were in a bit of trouble, but he took wickets the whole series. Dilshan is known for his provocative batting, actively trying to put the bowlers off their games. That may be more difficult for this attack to cope with than the 2004 group? He will be trying to put the Australians off their game but they've just got to stick to their plans and make sure that they're being nice and aggressive towards all the Sri Lankan players, whether they've played one Test or 100 Tests. They must be taking the game to the hosts on their pitches in their country. Most can remember you saying you'd give up your spot in the team to make room for Michael Clarke in India later in 2004. Have you spoken much to Clarke since he became captain? I've had a few conversations with him. He's been fine, and he's been one of our very best players for a period of time now. He'll be looking forward to transferring that leadership role into runs as well, because at the end of the day that is the biggest thing as captain - you want the captain making runs and leading from the front. He's got to do that before he worries about too much else. That's what Ricky Ponting and his predecessors did very well.

[Cricket Tragic]

Ponting to miss second test

Ricky Ponting's 100th Test win arrived in the nick of time to allow him to fly home for the birth of his second child. Ponting will miss the second Test, which starts on Thursday in Kandy, opening the door for the reserve batsman Shaun Marsh to make his debut. Ponting's wife Rianna is heavily pregnant and medical advice that the birth was imminent had Ponting booked to board a plane home hours after the tourists completed a 125-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle. Ponting will remain at home for about a week and is hoping to be back in time for the third Test. "Rianna had another scan on Tuesday and the doctor believes it's going to be [due] in the next few days, so I've been keen to get this Test match over pretty quickly and get a flight out tonight," Ponting said. "I'll then get back Sunday night, so I'm pretty sure the little one will come a couple of days after I've got back hopefully. "Hopefully the baby comes in the next couple of days and hopefully I'll be around for a few days and hopefully be able to get them out of hospital and be back in time to get prepared to play the third Test. As the tour's worn on, one thing I didn't want to do if at all possible was miss the birth, and Rianna's started to struggle a little more the last few days so she just needs me home at the moment." Reflecting on his feat in becoming the first man to participate in 100 Test wins, Ponting said each victory had gained in significance for him as the Australian team began its transition from an all-conquering unit to the battling group of 2011. "You always do [appreciate them more], yeah," Ponting said. "My proudest moment as captain was walking off the field in Durban [in 2009] when we beat South Africa over there. That was with a very young team. That was the proudest moment of my captaincy, and I think Michael [Clarke] will say something similar now. "Michael's played in a lot of Test wins as well, but take away the fact this was his first Test as captain, I think anytime you teak a young team onto the ground and you can win a game I'm sure it's something we can all be proud of. It goes to show things aren't all doom and gloom in Australian cricket, and if we play the way this group knows it can play I'm sure we'll be competitive over the next few weeks as well. "It's been a great week for this team, for us to eke out as many runs as we did in the first innings set the game up for us, but a lot of good things have happened this week, not just my thing, Michael's first Test as captain, and a couple of the debutants playing a big role in the result as well. It's been an enjoyable week."

[Hell Raiser]

So Ponting will finally catch up with Sachin, Sachin also have two kids. Now race is on who will get the 3rd kid first.

[james]

Good luck to him... great guy!

[Clarke]

Khwaja moves up & Marsh comes in @ 6 ?