Taking up the Aussie challenge in style

Australia, the largest test playing nation is also currently the best. To beat them in their own country is test cricket’s greatest challenge. In a few days, Sri Lanka will be taking on that task. Such an opportunity is a dream come true for any professional cricketer and we are relishing the challenge.

Although the two test tour takes place in Brisbane, Queensland and Hobart, Tasmania our tour begins in Adelaide, South Australia. We arrived in Adelaide on a Singapore Airlines flight after a four hour stopover in Singapore. Security was ultra tight when we arrived in Adelaide. A heavily armed police convoy chaperoned us from the airport terminal to the team bus. All eyes, of course, were on Murali because of the issues Australian crowds have had with him on past tours. We except that attention to become even more intense as Murali chases Shane Warne’s record for the most number of test wickets.

If the reception at the Adelaide airport was thoroughly professional, what awaited us at the team hotel, Stamford Hotel was not. We were told our rooms were not ready and we had to wait, loitering in the hotel lobby for about an hour. In a tough tour, every little incident matters and this was a little irritating for the team.

But the boys have settled in now. We had two practice sessions before our first game against the Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI on Saturday which went well with the batsmen having an extra hour at the nets. This game will be crucial for the batsmen who need to swiftly adjust to the quicker, bouncier wickets in Australia.

From what I saw of the wicket at the Adelaide Oval where we play the first game, the surface was green and hard although some local players told us it was taking spin lately. I suspect this is the kind of wicket we would encounter in Australia. Not only do we have to adjust to the different conditions in Australia, we have had to adjust to different formats of the game as well. Just over a month ago, we were playing in the Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa with its fast paced, pressure cooker atmosphere.

Then a few weeks ago, we were battling England on home soil in a five match series of 50-over limited over internationals. Now, it is back to the hard grind of test cricket which is probably the ultimate test of your cricketing skills because it is a game of patience and confidence.

I must say that the squad has discussed, learnt from and then laid to rest the England tour which was not a happy one for the boys. Test cricket is a different ball game altogether and every player has had to consciously change his mindset, which the boys have done.

We know that the batting let us down in the series against England and a lot of work has gone into rectifying this. Mahela and Sanga are batting extremely well at the nets and with a batting line up which is a blend of youth and experience, we expect to put some decent scores on the board.

The return of Marvan to the side has certainly strengthened our batting line up. Marvan is a former captain, is an exceptionally sound batsman and commands a lot of respect. He is moving well with the boys and has fitted in extremely well. Whatever controversy there was about Marvan’s selection is now history and we can look forward to a significant contribution from him.

I too believe that we now have the best Sri Lankan bowling attack that toured Australia. What is different this time around is the variety that our attack possesses. There is pace from Dilhara and Lasith Malinga, seam from Maha (Farveez Maharoof) and swing from myself and Chanaka Welagedera with the spinning options of Malinga Bandara and of course, Murali to choose from.

It is probably the first time that we have had such diversity in our attack and that is one reason why we are quietly confident of success. It is certainly the first time we have a fast bowling coach, Champaka Ramanayake, touring with us which is a big bonus, considering the wealth of experience and technical skill that he is able to provide.

Of course, attention naturally focuses on Murali because of the response he has evoked in Australia. He is a livewire and his absence from the team because of injury has only made him keener to get back into action. He is simply raring to go. We don’t expect chants of ‘No-ball’ when Murali bowls on this tour because we hope that all the advance publicity that he has generated will deter such behaviour. But Murali is Murali and he is taking the pressure very well, in his usual way-smiling through everything.

So far, we have had an extremely cordial reaction in Australia. Crowds of over a hundred have gathered whenever we practised at the nets and they have been well behaved but the sportsmanship of Aussie crowds will be really tested only when the test matches begin. There is plenty of media coverage of the tour here and reading the local papers, I was struck by the fact that the Aussies too expect a good contest: they have singled out Sri Lanka, along with South Africa, as one of the two teams capable of beating the Australians on current form.

Playing Australia in Australia is no easy task. Given the current form of the Aussies, it is cricket’s Mount Everest. We are also aware that in eighteen tests, we have beaten Australia only once, in Kandy eight years ago. We also know that we have never won a test in Australia and that of the eight test matches we played here, we have lost six.

It will be a tough tour. On the recent Australian tour to India, there was a lot of tension between the players and there was a lot of sledging as well. We don’t intend to sledge, but we can look after ourselves on the field as well. All Sri Lankan cricket tours to Australia in recent times have had one feature: whatever the result, they have always been exciting, for a variety of reasons. This time, I hope, will be no different. But I do hope that the results will be different as well.