stmookeyj
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It's not quite a case of coming full circle, but the combatants from the inaugural test match played in the southern most capital in Australia return close to a quarter of a century later to open what is normally the main test series in the country.
History is not kind to the Sri Lankan tilt, having appeared in 10 test matches in Australia, and their best results have come in Queensland having achieved a pair of drawn matches at the Gabba in 1989 and in Cairns in 2005. They have never beaten an Australian side who have had a full compliment of fit players to conclude a test match, their only test win coming in Kandy after Steve Waugh's nose made acquaintances with Jason Gillespie's leg. They have met in Hobart in test matches twice, with Australia winning by 173 runs in 1989 and 96 runs in their most recent battle 6 years ago. Of course Kumar Sangakkara won't forget that match in a hurry, thanks to the failing eyesight and hearing of Rudi Koertzen who denied him a double century after incorrectly identifying the ball coming off a shoulder rather than an edge.
Only Sangakkara, fellow keeper Prasanna Jayawardene and reluctant on-again/off-again captain Mahela Jayawardene survive from the XI that last graced "The Boot" in 2007. A number of the players are familiar to Australian audiences, having appeared in the tri-series last summer. Of those who are not, opener Dimuth Karunaratne plays his 2nd test (having debuted against New Zealand at Galle recently) in preference to the out of sorts Tharanga Paranavitana. It's a foursome of "pace" bowlers for Sri Lanka's attack (including all rounder and captain in waiting Angelo Mathews), obviously they weren't going to drop Rangana Herath who leads the world wicket takers for 2012 and there was no way they were going to summon Lasith Malinga who only plays the white ball disciplines. In the end Shaminga Eranga's performance in the warm-up last weekend gets him his 4th test match over Dhammika Prasad.
The post Ricky Thomas Ponting era begins with a recall for Phil Hughes who will bat at 3 with Watson dropping to 4. Hopefully the technical issues that plagued Hughes' run as an opener do not resurface to prove the theory that the more things change the more they stay the same (i.e. a M.Clarke rescue mission). With Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus sufficiently recovered from bowling in Adelaide, there's no room in the squad for an injured John Hastings, and Starc is the preferred Mitchell in the attack with Johnson perhaps to go back to playing "fillet burger cricket" (well it is the KFC Big Bash isn't it?).
The major talking point as was the case last year is the pitch. Low scores and widespread condemnation have been the order of the day after resurfacing works in August, despite the fact that the batsmen concerned may have been playing shield cricket as if it was the crunch game in the "fillet burger league". The bulk of the wickets have been taken by seamers, but the curator believes that swing rather than seam will be more decisive. It goes without saying that the weather generally affects test matches in Hobart, and with morning drizzle a better than 50/50 bet for this morning and either showers or rain forecast for 4 of the next 5 days, interruptions will likely be abundant, but at least there won't be any confusion over how many overs constitute a match.
TEAMS
AUSTRALIA: David WARNER, Ed COWAN, Phillip HUGHES, Shane WATSON, Michael CLARKE (C), Michael HUSSEY, Matthew WADE (WK), Peter SIDDLE, Mitchell STARC, Nathan LYON, Ben HILFENHAUS
SRI LANKA: Tillakaratne DILSHAN, Dimuth KARUNARATNE, Kumar SANGAKKARA, Mahela JAYAWARDENE (C), Thilan SAMARAWEERA, Angelo MATHEWS, Prasanna JAYAWARDENE, Nuwan KULASEKERA, Rangana HERATH, Shaminda ERANGA, Chanaka WELEGEDARA
UMPIRES: Nigel LLONG (ENG), Tony HILL (NZ)
3rd UMPIRE: Aleem DAR (PAK)
MATCH REFEREE: Chris BROAD (ENG)
Usual media coverage, with the blackout to the Hobart area in play. It's a 10:30 local start for play. Tickets are plentiful as usual for a Hobart test with the expensive seats at $60 and the access to the hill from $38.
