Current Matches : Australia in Sri Lanka

Author: MikeySubject: Australia in Sri LankaPosted: 26 July 2011 at 9:43amAustralia will be touring Sri Lanka shortly for the first time since 2004. The tour will include 2 T20I's, 5 ODIs and 3 tests.The following squad was selected for Australia: Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael BeerThe notable exclusion is Steven Smith. The selectors have finally realised that picking a player as a specialist fielder will not work - his bowling nor his batting are adequate for test selection. His next test will probably be as a specialist batsman at some stage in the future if he is ever to play tests for Australia. Copeland and Pattinson are the rookie fast bowlers that have been selected, Copeland has been particularly good in first class cricket, with Australia having a lot of fast bowling options to pick from, he was the one that was given the nod. Pattinson is a young bolter and there are some big expectations on him too. His brother played for England a couple of years ago, but James is born in Australia and has played all his cricket here. Nathan Lyon, the South Australia off break bowler has been strangely selected, just as Michael Beer and this series will probably ruin both of them... no surprises there. Hauritz is still injured and Krejza is still rubbish.Harris is back and Bollinger has not been picked! But it looks a good decision, Dougie really struggles to maintain his intensity, while Harris is probably one of the fastest bowlers in the world at the moment. Tim Paine has not been picked at all, but we do see Marsh and Khawaja included, one of the will play. While Hughes will open, he has been in fantastic form and hopefully he can translate his talent into runs. I won't write the kid off just yet! Warner is also backing off from a double ton in a first class game vs Zim A and is proving his credentials in the longer form - Hughes will have competition that's for sure. All in all, both teams are struggling for form in the longer format. SL will have home advantage and even though they do have better spin talent, none of the options really match Murali. Should be a decent series.