The questions Australia will need to answer in Sri Lanka
All eyes will be on the pitches prepared in Galle and they will have a significant bearing on how the visitors balance their side
Alex Malcolm24-Jan-20251:00
Ferguson: Connolly has stood up with every opportunity
Will Travis Head open and how will the top-order shape up?Australia’s selectors have been very clear on how they wish to deploy Travis Head’s talent in specific conditions. At home, and in SENA conditions, they see him as the perfect counterattacking No. 5. On the subcontinent, they see him as a dashing opener who can set the game up before the ball softens and starts turning square, much like he does in short-from cricket.Related
'Be brave': Australia consider mid-match flexibility to batting order
Smith's assist in Connolly's selection, ten years on from childhood photo
Sam Konstas hopes to embrace Sri Lanka challenge after heated India start
Smith feared significant elbow injury after outfield throw
Head was being discussed as an option to open in this series from a long way out, given he made 23 runs in three innings batting at Nos. 5 and 6 in Sri Lanka in 2022, and averages 18.90 in 11 innings on the subcontinent in the middle-order. He was dropped at the start of the India series in 2023, such were the selectors fears about his ability to start against spin. He was recalled as an opener when David Warner was injured in the second Test and made 223 runs at 55.75 in five innings.Sam Konstas, however, has added a new layer to the selectors’ plans. He was not on the radar for Sri Lanka until his exploits at the MCG. He now is the anointed one at the top of the order and needs to play as much as possible given Usman Khawaja, 38, will not be in India in 2027. Konstas will be tested by spin in Sri Lanka. Ravindra Jadeja becalmed him at the MCG after his onslaught against Jasprit Bumrah. Todd Murphy also outsmarted him a Sheffield Shield game at the same venue in October.Travis Head had success opening in India on the 2023 tour•BCCIKhawaja was Australia’s best player on the three subcontinent tours in 2022 and 2023 opening the batting. Three doesn’t go into two. Khawaja is easily the best equipped of the three to slide to No. 5 and start against spin. There is, however, another alternative. One of Konstas, Head or Khawaja could move to No. 3 and Marnus Labuschagne moves to No. 5.Labuschagne and Smith made centuries in Australia’s most recent Test in Galle. Having Australia’s best three players of spin – Khawaja, Smith and Labuschagne – reinforce the middle-order, in some kind of combination, after a potentially fast start could be an appealing option. But rejigging the top five in such a fashion would be unusual without changing any personal from the last Test in Sydney.
Who partners Lyon and how many spinners play?Mitchell Swepson partnered Nathan Lyon in both Tests in Sri Lanka in 2022, but the selectors have concluded that legspin is not effective in those conditions and have not picked one for this tour. Murphy was picked to partner Lyon initially in India, and Matt Kuhnemann was chosen when they opted for three spinners in the XI for the final three Tests.Kuhnemann was favourite to partner Lyon, with a definite preference for a left-arm orthodox in those conditions to complement the offspinner, especially with Head’s ability to be a second offspin option. But Kuhnemann’s hand injury is a major spanner in the works although he may yet feature despite fracturing his thumb and undergoing surgery last week. He has been able to bowl, bat and field without pain while training in Brisbane this week and was cleared to fly out to Sri Lanka on Friday.Could Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy be paired together again?•Getty ImagesIf Kuhnemann ultimately doesn’t make it, the likelihood is that Murphy plays alongside Lyon leaving Australia with two specialist offspinners as well as a third part-time offspinner. That will increase Cooper Connolly’s chances of playing. But with four first-class matches to his name, and zero first-class wickets, he would have to play as a batting allrounder rather than a frontline spinner which would change the shape of Australia’s XI.While the selectors would prefer to have Kuhnemann partner Lyon for match-up purposes, there is a case to be made that Murphy is the better option full stop. The want for a left-arm orthodox, as was the case with Ashton Agar in India in 2023, comes from a belief that having two right-arm offspinners, plus a third part-timer, against a right-hand heavy batting line-up is too one-dimensional. But Murphy’s record against right-handers is excellent. He’s taken 13 wickets at 27.61 in Tests against right-handers, having knocked over Virat Kohli four times, Cheteshwar Pujara twice, Joe Root and KL Rahul once each among others. In first-class cricket, his strike-rate against right-handers is better than Kuhnemann’s.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have two left-handers in their preferred top seven. One of them, Kamindu Mendis made centuries in both Galle Tests against New Zealand last year and averages 74.00 in Test cricket from 17 innings. In the second Test of that series, New Zealand’s three left-arm orthodox bowlers in Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra took 0 for 330 from a combined 86.4 overs. Kuhnemann averages 41.32 against left-handers in first-class cricket. In Test cricket, he is yet to get a left-hander out, bowling 75 balls to India’s pair of Jadeja and Axar Patel over three Tests and conceding 71 runs.Is the allrounder needed?In the final two Tests of the India series in 2023, Cameron Green played as the second quick alongside three spinners and Mitchell Starc. On a raging turner in Indore, he bowled two overs for the Test as Australia won before lunch on day three. Green did not bowl on another big turner in Galle in the first Test in 2022, which Australia also won in the same amount of time.If significant spin is expected, Australia might not need an allrounder. Or they could bat the allrounder at No. 8 to lengthen the order and back the two main spinners, Head and one quick to take 20 wickets. If Kuhnemann is unavailable, such a scenario would open the door for Connolly to play at No. 8.Beau Webster is a very versatile cricketer•Getty ImagesIt also might mean a debut for Josh Inglis as a specialist batter at No. 6 as his play against spin is held in slightly higher regard than Beau Webster. However, Webster has a case to play no matter what. His batting on debut in Sydney was exemplary. His reach and the quickness of his feet should remind the selectors of Green, who was player of the match for a outstanding 77 on the Galle dustbowl in 2022.If the wicket is flatter, as it was in the second Test in Galle in 2022, then Webster’s bowling will make him a more attractive option at No. 6. On top of his medium pace, he can bowl offspin and could provide a different trajectory from 200cm even if he would potentially be fourth choice behind Lyon, Murphy and Head. He can also swing the new ball and bowl stump-to-stump medium pace with the keeper up, if the bounce gets inconsistent.Which quicks and how many?Starc does not get nearly enough credit for his durability and his skill across a variety of different conditions. With Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood unavailable, Starc will lead the pace attack and might do it on his own. He did so in the final two Tests in India and could do so again if conditions allow it.He has taken 16 wickets at 14.81 in three Tests in Galle, including hauls of 5 for 44, 6 for 50 and 4 for 89. If the surface is flatter, Australia might need a second quick. In theory it should be Scott Boland, who bowled better than his figures suggested in his only subcontinent Test in Nagpur in 2023 and honed his craft on some of the slowest and flattest pitches in Australian domestic cricket in Victoria before the MCG was transformed.
The only other option is Sean Abbott. He can bowl slightly quicker and skiddier than Boland and can also reverse the older ball. His batting is far superior with a first-class century and average of 24.55. If Webster were selected at No. 6, with two specialist spinners and Starc, then Abbott could be a more complementary option to attack with reverse swing in short spells and strengthen the batting line-up.