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The left hander will be the spare batter against West Indies after winning the selection race

AAP11-Jan-20241:30

Michael Clarke not concerned by ageing Australia Test side

After being recalled to Australia’s Test squad, batter Matt Renshaw has been left musing on how the last six months has been “a weird time”, but also the best of times, for him.Renshaw is not in the playing XI, but has been named in the 13-man squad as the spare batter for the first Test against the West Indies, starting in Adelaide on January 17, edging out fellow red-ball openers Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft who were also in the mix.Related

• Bancroft has no concerns over relationships with Australia's bowlers

• Smith to open, Green to bat No.4, Renshaw added to squad

• No ghosts of 2018: overlooking Bancroft 'purely a cricketing decision'

When David Warner announced in the middle of last year that he would retire from Test cricket after the recently concluded Pakistan series, the race was on to find his successor, with Steven Smith now confirmed as opener after being elevated from No. 4.But the 27-year-old Renshaw is just happy to be back in the Test environment, after learning a lot about himself since last being part of the squad during the Test series in India last year.”It is really nice and a lot of hard work has gone into that. It has been a weird six months since Davey said what he said but I have just tried to enjoy my cricket,” Renshaw explained. “That is the big one for me. As much as all this stuff has been looming over my head, I play my best when I am having fun.”Obviously, people come and go. That’s the way cricket is but I’ve just tried to enjoy my cricket…whether that is for Australia A, Prime Minister’s XI, Queensland and in county cricket as well.”Matt Renshaw had a brief return to the Test side last year•Getty Images

Renshaw has scored 1566 first-class runs at an average of 52.20, with seven centuries, since July 1, 2022. They are impressive figures and reveal his consistency.His selection is a message from selectors that he is the next cab off the rank if he can stay on his upward trajectory. The opening position that could have been his has been taken by Smith, rather than a regular red-ball opener.Smith volunteered to move up from No. 4 but Renshaw is not kicking stones. It is a move he understands.”He averages 60 in Test cricket. He is the best player in the world. It gets Cam [Green] in the team as well and we all know what Cam is capable of,” he said. “Selectors talked about the top six batters in the country and there is no doubt those six guys are. It is just about me trying to learn from them while I am in the squad.”We have got amazing players in the team but I’ve had a little nibble at Test cricket already. I know what it is like to score a hundred, and how that feels. I jut want to try and get that enjoyment and be myself around the Test team.”Renshaw was just 20 when he scored 184, his sole Test century, against Pakistan in Sydney.”I feel a completely different player. I look back at that and I think I was very naïve with cricket,” he said. “I came in wet behind the ears and hadn’t really had much experience with what the game can do. I’ve learned from that…tried to get better with that and tried to improve myself as a cricketer.”That’s all-round with my game knowledge and probably some technical aspects. I look back at my technique then and it probably wasn’t that pretty. It is still probably not that pretty, but I feel like I have ironed out a few things I needed to.”

They have a strong hand of pace bowlers but pitches in Hobart can be a challenge

Alex Malcolm04-Oct-2022Captain Jordan Silk

Coach Jeff VaughanSquad

R=Rookie, CA=Australia contract
Tom Andrews, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Iain Carlisle, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Sam Rainbird, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Mac Wright, Nick Davis (R), Jarrod Freeman (R), Mitch Owen (R), Nivethan Radhakrishnan (R) In Nick Davis, Billy Stanlake | Out Tim PaineWinter moves

Tim Paine not being offered a contract was one of the main talking points of the winter but after training with the Tasmania squad over the last two months as an uncontracted player has been included in the first Sheffield Shield squad. Billy Stanlake has made the move south from Queensland to try and revive his career after a string of back injuries. He is still recovering from his latest stress fracture and is not going to be available until after the BBL and will only play white ball cricket this summer.Related

• Chris Tremain's long wait: 'I contemplated retirement quite frequently'

• Western Australia's formidable depth make them strong contenders again

• Meredith shines with career-best haul for pacesetters Tasmania

Last season

Tasmania played some excellent cricket last summer beating eventual Shield winners Western Australia twice both home and away. But two tight losses late in the season to New South Wales in Sydney and Victoria in Melbourne cost them a spot in the final. On both occasions, their batting let them down in low-scoring affairs. Tasmania unearthed a new opening duo with Tim Ward and Caleb Jewell forming a good combination. The flow-on effect was that Jordan Silk’s move to the middle order proved a masterstroke as he had an outstanding season averaging 57.11 with a century and three fifties, having been freed from the tough task of facing the new ball at Bellerive week in and week out. Tasmania’s bowling wasn’t quite as strong as in previous years with none of the quicks managing to take 20 wickets while the ever-reliable Jackson Bird only played three games and Riley Meredith only played two, with Peter Siddle (19 wickets) doing the heavy lifting while Sam Rainbird produced a record 13-wicket haul against Queensland.

Tasmania Shield fixtures

October 6-9: vs Queensland, Allan Border Field
October 16-19: vs South Australia, Adelaide Oval
October 29-November 1: vs Victoria, Hobart
November 12-15: vs New South Wales, Hobart
November 24-27: vs Victoria, MCG
December 1-4: vs South Australia, Hobart
February 11-14: vs New South Wales, SCG
February 21-24: vs Western Australia, Hobart
March 2-5: vs Western Australia, WACA
March 14-17: vs Queensland, Hobart

Player to watch

Ben McDermott has started to establish himself as one of Australia’s next-generation white-ball players having scored a breakthrough ODI century in Pakistan earlier this year. The next phase of his development is producing big scores in long-form cricket. He was left out of the Australia A tour to Sri Lanka purely because he was viewed by the selectors as further down the red-ball pecking order. He has been incredibly consistent at reaching 50 in first-class cricket, having passed 50 ten times in his last 28 innings, but he has only converted one of those scores into three figures. His coach Jeff Vaughan believes the big scores will come.”He has been really consistent,” Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. “It is an area that he’s working on, is to make big scores and that’s in all forms of the game. He’s been making hundreds in T20s domestically last year and has had some success across both 50-over and red-ball cricket. We’re really excited by what the future holds for him. And we certainly see him being one that could represent Australia in all three formats.”Australia radar
Matthew Wade will be away for the early part of the season with Australia’s T20 side but will be available once the World Cup is complete in mid-November. Nathan Ellis could be in an out depending on whether he is needed as an injury replacement for the World Cup. McDermott remains on Australia’s ODI radar and could potentially get a run in a three-match ODI series against England in November if some of the Test stars are rested. Riley Meredith may also bolt into the frame for that series as well given it is likely that Australia’s key fast bowlers will be given a spell.

Batter says continuity of white-ball roles is crucial if England are to win T20 World Cup

Andrew Miller21-Jun-2021Jos Buttler insists that his ambition is still to be “the best player I can, no matter what colour the ball is”, but says he has no qualms about missing England’s last five Test matches as part of the ECB’s rest-and-rotation policy, warning that if you treat the global schedule as “an endless piece of string, then at some point you are going to burn out”.Buttler has been named in England’s T20I squad for the series against Sri Lanka, beginning in Cardiff on Wednesday, and he expects once again to open the batting alongside Jason Roy, despite having batted at No. 4 for Lancashire during his recent return to action in the T20 Blast.But it was his absence from the Test series against New Zealand earlier this month that raised eyebrows, particularly in the wake of the postponement of this year’s IPL, the original reason why he had been expected to miss the two matches at Lord’s and Edgbaston.Although New Zealand’s IPL players all made themselves available for the series – including Trent Boult, who had to miss the Lord’s Test while undergoing quarantine – Buttler remained sidelined even after Ben Foakes, his understudy, was ruled out with a hamstring tear. In the absence of their established wicketkeepers, James Bracey made an uncomfortable debut behind the stumps, as England slumped to a 1-0 series loss, their first on home soil since 2014.Buttler, however, played down any suggestion that the Test team is in crisis after four losses in five in his absence, included three on the bounce in India following a memorable victory at Chennai in his most recent appearance.”Generally, things are never as good as you think they are and never as bad as you think they are,” Buttler said. “We played three fantastic games in the subcontinent and then hit some extremely tough conditions. India are a formidable force at home and went on to win that series. Any time you lose at home is disappointing – we’re a proud nation with a proud record at home and it was Rooty’s first series loss at home.”It’s disappointing whenever you don’t play cricket you know what you’re capable of as a side. But in the past 18 months, two years, there have been some strides and I think the side is going in the right direction. Things are still in a good place. Any time you lose, there are question marks but I think some great things have been put in place and I’d still back everyone in that side to have a great summer against India.”He also reiterated the importance of the ECB managing players’ workloads, even in an England home season – which is now very much an extension of the touring lifestyle, given the need for Covid-secure environments and the consequent long periods away from friends and family.Jos Buttler’s return for Lancashire this month was his first game since September 2018•Barry Mitchell/Lancashire Cricket

Buttler has a two-year-old daughter, Georgia, born on the eve of the 2019 World Cup, and he said that it was vital for England’s top cricketers to retain a work-life balance, especially given their packed itinerary for 2021 – which still has a home Test series against India to come, followed by the T20 World Cup and the Ashes in quick succession.”It’s always disappointing when you miss cricket,” Buttler said. “I was feeling in good touch and things were going well but I will retain that confidence if I get another chance. At the same time, what has been helpful as a player are the open discussions you have with the coaches and captains. Those rest periods are there because it probably allows you to throw yourself into everything when you are involved. If it’s an endless piece of string, then at some point you are going to burn out.”I don’t think there’s any perfect answers,” he added. “In England we’re playing a lot of cricket, more than most, so it’s important for everyone to be looked after really well, and I think the ECB do a good job of that. We understand it’s a short career and you want to be available and play as much as you can, but in the current climate, with all the complications of Covid etc, I do think we have to look after our people.”Simple things like playing in England, it used to be very easy to bring your family in, and get out and go home, and do those normal things. But the stresses and strains of the environments at the moment are different to what it used to be.”I know there’s been some criticism from outside, but I think it’s a day and age where we’ve got to look after people and applaud the fact that the guys are trying to be forward-thinking and look after people. Is it perfect? No, of course it’s not, but I’d rather we look after our guys.”Related

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There has been criticism too, that amid all the need for compromise, it is the England Test team that appears to have taken the hit on availability, with the white-ball squad at close to full strength, in spite of the injury absences of key players such as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer.And though Buttler is adamant he wants to be in the frame for both the India Tests and the Ashes, he also believes that in another World Cup year, the importance of getting the white-ball players used to their specific roles is paramount if England are to emulate their feat in 2019 and add the 20-over title to their list of global ICC trophies.”It’s really important to get the squad nailed down,” he said. “Role clarity for people and the familiarity of playing together, I think that’s a marker of successful teams – they are ones that know each other well and are playing good cricket going into the tournament.”That was something that helped us in the 50-over World Cup – going in confident, having played good cricket. So we need to focus hard on these next few T20s to make sure we put ourselves in as good a position as we can be when we get to the World T20.”Naturally I am a better white-ball player than I am a red-ball player but I want to be the best cricketer I can be in all formats,” he added. “In terms of my own ambitions, I want to be the best player I can, no matter what colour the ball is.”

The Melbourne Stars have been uncatchable at the top of the points table for a while, but they have now lost three matches in a row

The Report by Daniel Brettig25-Jan-2020AB de Villiers arrived with a masterful display for the Brisbane Heat to lead them to a yawning victory over the suddenly listless Melbourne Stars at the MCG. The Stars have been uncatchable at the top of the points table for a while, but they have now lost three matches in a row.On a slow surface, the Heat were kept quiet early after shuffling their batting line-up dramatically, but de Villiers bided his time to find the best way to go on the attack, before unleashing a succession of sixes, most of them off the back foot, to rush the Heat to 186 with 88 runs from the final six overs. He had significant assistance from Marnus Labuschagne in the closing overs, as both took a heavy toll on the Stars’ replacement paceman Dilbar Hussain.There was a decided lack of intensity about the Stars in their pursuit of the total, in contrast to the Heat’s high level of focus. This was personified by the excellent spells from James Pattinson and Mitchell Swepson, who ensured the Heat have destiny very much in their hands ahead of their final qualifying game against the Melbourne Renegades.Heat go higgledy piggledyNeeding a victory to stay in touch with the BBL top five, the Heat’s decision-makers Darren Lehmann and Chris Lynn unveiled a line-up that might easily have involved names in a hat or at the very least a dartboard. Ben Cutting was promoted to open with Sam Heazlett, de Villiers was handed the wicketkeeping gloves and Labuschagne shunted down to No. 6 in their latest attempt to wring a winning performance from a talented but imbalanced squad.Heazlett got a few early boundaries away, but neither Cutting nor Lynn could find their timing as the Stars again relied heavily on spin. There was a sense of aimlessness as the Heat drifted to 3 for 98 after 14 overs, having leapt to 38 from the opening three, as de Villiers struggled once more to find the sweetness of hitting that has marked many of his best T20 innings.De Villiers catches fireOn a sluggish MCG pitch, it took time for de Villiers to figure out that it was not particularly easy to tee-off on the front foot, and to conjure an alternative route to the boundary. He laboured to 13 from 16 balls with six overs remaining and then showed the crowd he could use his trademark wrists and fast hands to swing freely at short-of-a-length spin bowling while sitting back in the crease.What followed was the acceleration that won the Heat the match, as de Villiers ransacked six sixes and two fours to add another 58 from his final 21 balls. Two other figures had contrasting fates as a result: the beneficiary was Labuschagne, who was able to build into his innings before detonating in the final over with two sixes of his own. The fall guy was Hussain, a left-field choice as the replacement for Haris Rauf, who found his skiddy 140kph seamers landing obligingly in the slot for both de Villiers and Labuschagne.Heat prosper through classical skillsNo lesser judges than Bradman and Benaud always reckoned that the best combinations in cricket involved the use of high pace bowling opposite tantalising wristspin, and there was something of that ilk about the way the Heat were able to ensnare a decidedly sleepy-looking Stars’ batting line-up. Though Matt Renshaw’s opening over was expensive as he dropped short to Marcus Stoinis, Pattinson bowled with genuine speed and no little fire to coax a mistake from the opener, and then followed up by bursting through Seb Gotch.The Stars’ hopes then rested on Glenn Maxwell, but his stay was swiftly ended by the other half of the classical combo, as Swepson skidded a flatter delivery through his defence, and went on to claim two more. There was very little sense of purpose about the way the Stars undertook the remainder of their chase, with Peter Handscomb running himself out and Nick Larkin’s rearguard effort having far too little in the way of support to be meaningful. The Stars are still top of the table but with plenty of thinking to do about the finals.

Shannon Gabriel’s four-wicket burst reduced the hosts to 235 for 7 before the lower order fought back

The Report by Mohammad Isam22-Nov-2018
Mominul Haque raises his bat after bringing up his hundred•AFP

A topsy-turvy day that consisted of a brilliant 120 by Mominul Haque and a blazing third spell from Shannon Gabriel, ended with Bangladesh’s ninth-wicket stand of Taijul Islam and debutant Nayeem Hasan resisting West Indies in the last hour and a half. Their unbroken 56-run stand staved off the visitors who had taken control early in the third session.

David Boon flies home after mother’s death

David Boon, the match referee for the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Chittagong, will leave for Hobart on Friday, following the death of his mother Lesley Boon. Shipar Ahmed, a Bangladeshi who is a part of the ICC’s international panel of match referees, will stand in for Boon.
Shipar is a former cricketer himself, having played club cricket professionally for 16 years, before becoming a referee following his retirement. Andy Pycroft will serve as match referee for the second Test in Dhaka.

After going swimmingly well for the first two sessions, Bangladesh collapsed from 222 for 3 to 235 for 7 in the space of 4.2 overs. Gabriel picked all four wickets – Mominul, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan.Mominul edged a waft outside the off stump. Mushfiqur, fresh from an unbeaten 219 in his last Test, lasted two balls before Gabriel jagged one back into his pads and trapped him in front. In his next over, Gabriel got another one to nip back between Mahmudullah’s bat and pad and knock his stumps. Shakib was the fourth wicket to fall in that Gabriel spell, another inswinger that took the inside edge on its way to clipping middle stump.On many days, such a blazing spell would have spelled the end of the Bangladesh innings, with the tailenders at the crease. But Mehidy Hasan, Taijul and 17-year-old Nayeem batted a combined 148 balls together. The Taijul-Nayeem ninth-wicket stand has so far lasted 95 balls.The stand had its moments: Taijul survived two leg-before decisions through reviews, while also seeing Jomel Warrican dropping the throw that would have run him out after he slipped on the turn when being rejected a third run by Nayeem.However, the day should be remembered for Mominul’s hundred. He made 120 off 167 balls with ten fours and a six. This was his eighth hundred in Tests, equaling Tamim’s record for most centuries for Bangladesh. It was also Mominul’s fourth century in 2018, equal with Virat Kohli; the fourth hundred also meant he now holds the record for most hundreds in a calendar year for Bangladesh.Despite losing Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes on either end of the first session, Mominul ensured Bangladesh made a strong start. After Soumya was out third ball of the match edging a Kemar Roach delivery, Mominul struck Gabriel for three fours and generally dominated a 104-run second-wicket partnership with Kayes, who survived two chances on his way to 44.Roston Chase had dropped him at second slip on 3, and Warrican had overstepped as Kayes slogged him to deep square leg on 16. Mominul struck Warrican for three fours in the 16th over and reached his fifty off 69 balls. But West Indies would have been relieved to get Kayes in the last over before lunch, as he hit Warrican straight to short leg.Soon after the lunch break, Shane Dowrich dropped Mominul on 67 off Devendra Bishoo, before the wicketkeeper took Mohammad Mithun’s skier, after an unnecessary slog against the same bowler. It was the second time in his three Test innings that Mithun had fallen in that manner.Mominul remained solid as he and Shakib rebooted Bangladesh’s innings during their fourth-wicket stand. Mominul slammed a six over midwicket to reach 98 before reaching his hundred in the following over, with a four through point. The game unraveled swiftly, however, as Bangladesh first collapsed and then resisted. Through it all, both teams would have noticed just how much the ball was turning, even when Kraigg Brathwaite bowled his part-time offspin.

The two spinners finished with match hauls of eight wickets each to clinch the unofficial Test series for Sri Lanka 2-1

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2017
ScorecardWICB Media/Athelstan Bellamy

Left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara and offspinner Shehan Jayasuriya were at the forefront of Sri Lanka A’s series-clinching win in the third unofficial Test against West Indies A, with a match haul of eight wickets each. Their combined efforts meant West Indies A were limited to scores of 181 and 118 in their two innings, to hand Sri Lanka A a comfortable ten-wicket win within two days of play.Pushpakumara, who had a haul of 12 wickets in the second four-dayer, took 4 for 67 in the first innings, with support from Lahiru Kumara and Jayasuriya, who picked up two each. West Indies A’s innings of 181 was propped up single-handedly by Sunil Ambris, who scored his fifth first-class century, even as no other West Indies A batsman managed to score more than 20.Sri Lanka A then took a 92-run lead despite a few stutters with the bat. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva top-scored with 64, while Roshen Silva contributed 52 before retiring hurt.Jayasuriya then took centre stage, accounting for West Indies A’s top six for returns of 6 for 60. Like their first innings, only one West Indies A batsman managed a score of more than 20; in this instance captain Shamarh Brooks hit 52. Pushpakumara ran through the lower order, with 4 for 19, to leave Sri Lanka A with a target of 27 runs to win. The visitors needed only 5.5 overs to reach the target on the third evening.

While all eyes are on the pitch for Durban’s first-ever Test match in August, peripheral vision will move to the outfield which has failed to recover completely since being relaid last month

Firdose Moonda18-Aug-2016While all eyes are on the pitch for Durban’s first-ever Test match in August, peripheral vision will move to the outfield which has failed to recover completely since being relaid last month.After a limited-overs series between both teams last year, members of both sides had complained about the condition of the outfields in Durban and Centurion. They found the ground uncomfortable because it was too hard and asked if something could be done to soften it ahead of this year’s Test series. CSA agreed to decompact the outfield at both venues, which essentially involves removing sand and grass and relaying it. However, the process took place too late in Durban and the outfield was too deeply dug up to be ready in time for the Test. As a result, the outfield is an eyesore: patchy with several areas of scant grass and significant sand.”The digging happened too deep and too late and that’s why it looks the way it does now,” an insider told ESPNcricinfo. “Overall, it may be softer, but it’s definitely not pristine.”Work was done at SuperSport Park as soon as the season ended in April, but could not get underway in Kingsmead at the same time because it is the end point of the Comrades Marathon, which was run on May 29. “There would have been no point doing it when you are just going to have 18,000 runners’ feet on the ground a few weeks later,” the source said.Instead, the process only began in mid-June and was completed by July 1, seven weeks before the Test. More than 40 tonnes of sand and grass were removed from the outfield and new grass was grown. “It was a bit of a gamble to start that late, but they thought with the warmer climate, the outfield would recover and it was on its way.”At the end of July, Durban was hit by severe floods, and the outfield “was like a lake.” Since then, intermittent drizzle and insufficient sunshine, partly caused by the shadow the grandstand casts over part of the outfield at this time of the year, did not allow the grass to grow as much as it should have.While this will have no impact as such on the pitch, which had a significant grass covering on it the day before the match, it could still play a part in the Test. On rougher ground, the ball will scuff up quicker which may assist in getting reverse-swing.

After scoring an unbeaten 88 which secured Bangladesh’s seven-wicket win against South Africa, Soumya Sarkar revealed that he kept trying to pull the short balls since he was confident he had the mindset to take on the visitors’ attack

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur13-Jul-2015After scoring an unbeaten 88 which secured Bangladesh’s seven-wicket win against South Africa, Soumya Sarkar revealed that he kept trying to pull the short balls since he was confident he had the mindset to take on the visitors’ attack. Soumya said that he was not worried about the consequences, like getting out, but understood the need to prolong his good starts.”I heard from somewhere that they will stop me by bowling bouncers,” Soumya said. “I wanted to play at them, even if I got out. I wanted to get out of that mindset. I planned that no matter how fast they bowl and how much they try to bounce me, I just wanted to take them on.”South Africa’s pace attack bowled eleven deliveries to Soumya that ranged between very short to just short of good length, but the batsman either managed to get on top of the bounce, or threw himself at a pull. He initially got mixed results as many of the balls fell short of the mid-off fielder after he failed to time it.But later in the innings, after Soumya had crossed 60, he cracked a pull emphatically off Kagiso Rabada for four. It was a statement of intent that he later said wanted to deliver to the opposition attack. Soumya added that South Africa hardly gave him breathing space like he received from the Pakistan attack on his way to an unbeaten 127 three months ago. He rated this unbeaten knock higher than the century.”Against South Africa, I have had to make a bad ball as they weren’t giving away. Pakistan were giving at least one bad ball per over. This was a tougher knock. We were chasing a bigger total against Pakistan so we could plan accordingly. Small targets are always hard to chase. We have to change plans quickly. You have to start fresh after quick wickets. I will keep this innings ahead.”In the four innings after his maiden century on April 22, Soumya failed to bat for more than 47 deliveries or 70 minutes. He made 54, 34, 40 and 27, but got out trying to attack further. The BCB president Nazmul Hasan had mentioned the same to him during their meeting on Saturday, but Soumya said he has heard the exact same thing from everyone.”Everyone says the same thing. Even those who are younger than me tell me, ‘Bro, please finish your innings’. I have been getting used to this,” he said. “I didn’t do too many different things to prolong my innings. My target wasn’t to score a 50 or a 100 but to finish the chase. I just wanted to play till the end.”Soumya said that he minimised the risk in his plan to play a longer innings. Bangladesh’s poor start of losing Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das by the fourth over also contributed to his subdued start.”I cut down one or two of my shots thinking that it might bring me a positive result. A big innings always brings relief. I started differently today but that was due to the circumstances. I think I faced just one ball in the first three-four overs. We had lost two wickets by then so I had to think fresh. I had thought earlier that I would play in my own way. But the two wickets changed my plans.”The other factor he feels helped was having Mahmudullah back in the team. Soumya and Mahmudullah added 135 runs for the third wicket that took Bangladesh within four runs of victory. The pair has already added three fifty-plus stands and Soumya said Mahmudullah understands his game the best, which helps them bat well together.”Since the World Cup whenever I see Riyad bhai come to bat, I smile. I do that whenever I see him in the middle. Today I told him everything is fine. But what he tells me, I always take it seriously. He understands my batting very well.”

Australia completed a fearful mauling of Sri Lanka in the Boxing Day Test, winning by an innings and 201 runs

The Report by Daniel Brettig at the MCG28-Dec-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mitchell Johnson was left unbeaten on 92 after Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird fell quickly•Getty Images

In his summary of the 1974-75 Ashes series, Wisden’s correspondent John Thicknesse wrote of the havoc wrought by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson that “England’s batsmen must have experienced the same sort of emotion as they waited for the next ball as early Christians felt as they waited in the Colosseum for the lions.”Sri Lanka’s batsmen were wracked by that same feeling of helplessness and inevitability as Australia completed a fearful mauling of the tourists in the Boxing Day Test, as the incisiveness of the home bowling attack combined with a dreadful glut of injuries to have the match over by 2.10pm on the third afternoon. The fall of Sri Lanka’s seventh wicket, fittingly to a short-pitched ball, meant the end of the contest, as none of Prasanna Jayawardene, Chanaka Welegedara or Kumar Sangakkara were fit to bat.Sangakkara had suffered a suspected finger fracture at the hands of the man of the match Mitchell Johnson, who began the day by guiding Australia’s tail to a lead of 304 and ended it as the chief inflictor of pain on a Sri Lankan team that was overwhelmed even more comprehensively than India had been last year.Australia’s victory was a reward for a consistently diligent and aggressive pursuit of victory, though it was hard to define how well they had played given the collective weakness of their opponents, who had clearly thrown their best and only punch in Hobart. Nonetheless it was a triumphant way for Michael Clarke’s team to conclude the year, even if they had their own injury worry in the shape of Shane Watson’s problematic calf.The destruction of Sri Lanka’s innings began in the first over. Dimuth Karunaratne was farcically run out after taking his team’s first run, and next ball Tillakaratne Dilshan squeezed a Johnson short ball to short leg. Jackson Bird again made a striking impression, deceiving Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera with his immaculate line and a little movement in either direction.Bird and Nathan Lyon had failed to keep Johnson company for long enough to allow the left-hander his second Test hundred after a rasping effort in Cape Town in 2009, but this was to seem of little consequence once the Sri Lankans began batting.Lyon’s intention when play resumed had to be to hang around while Johnson pushed towards his second Test century. However his actions did not match the goal, as after taking a single to get off a duck he was late on a pull shot at Angelo Mathews and lobbed the simplest of catches to midwicket.That left Johnson with the company of only the last man Bird, who with a first-class batting average of 8.22 was certainly entitled to his station beneath Lyon in the order. Needing another 17 runs when Bird walked tot he middle, Johnson set about the task with good sense, pinching singles here and there while also driving Mathews sweetly down the ground.He had made it as far as 92 when Bird faced up to Shaminda Eranga, who delivered a ball that was fast, full and more or less wasted on the batsman, who was comically late as the ball crashed into middle and off stumps. Johnson accepted a gesture of consolation from Bird before jogging off the field, assuming his next task of taking the new ball in the second innings.Johnson did not have long to wait for a celebration, Karaunaratne pushing into the offside third ball of the innings and setting off fatally for a second run as David Warner fielded and threw sharply back to the bowler, whose dive to break the stumps beat Karunaratne comfortably. Dilshan’s first ball was short, fast and at the batsman’s armpit, forcing a self-preervative stroke that lopped off glove and thigh for Ed Cowan to run back and catch – 2 for 1.Jayawardene’s decline as an international batsman on foreign shores has been dispiriting for those who have witnessed his best, and here he was defeated by Bird’s line, unsure whether to play or leave and withdrawing his bat too late to avoid a wretched inside edge onto the stumps.Samaraweera played Bird uncertainly from the crease, and when the bowler seamed one back at him was pinned in front for a clear LBW, the batsman’s DRS referral made more out of desperation than calculation. Replays duly showed the ball striking leg stump, leaving Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews to limp to the interval.Not long after lunch, Sangakkara winced when fending a Johnson delivery off the glove and shook his head forlornly when the team physio examined the damage. He left the field to become the third Sri Lankan sent to hospital during the match, and the remainder of the innings was not to be long in returning to the dressing room.Mathews dragged an attempted pull shot onto the stumps, Dhammika Prasad followed two consecutive sixes off the bowling of Lyon by skying a vain attempt at a third, and Eranga was cornered by a short-pitcher from Peter Siddle and plopped a catch to Ed Cowan at short leg. The innings had felt as much blood sport as Test match, and like the 1974-75 Englishmen, Sri Lanka were much the bloodier.