Sri Lanka search for Test match focus

September 7, 2011

September 8-12, Pallekele
Start time 10:00 (04:30 GMT, 14:30 EST)

Australia surprised many people by outplaying Sri Lanka in their own conditions in Galle, even if the dusty pitch did mean the toss played a significant role in the outcome. Now, Michael Clarke can rack up his first series victory if the team backs up with another strong performance in Pallekele. It's nearly 18 months since the Australians have won a Test series, the last time being on their tour of New Zealand in March 2010. Much has changed for Clarke since then; on that trip, he was followed by tabloid reporters and TV cameras after his much-publicised break-up with Lara Bingle. In one sense, those days must seem a lifetime ago for Clarke, but he's also acutely aware that he hasn't made a Test century since that New Zealand series. But his second-innings 60 was key to Australia's victory in Galle, and he certainly outperformed his opposing captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Dilshan was the prime culprit in Sri Lanka's top-order failure in the first Test. In the first innings he was caught slashing wildly in the second over and in the second innings he disregarded the difficult conditions and left an enormous gate between bat and pad, and was not surprisingly bowled by a ball that jagged back off the seam. It was not a sight that would have impressed one of Dilshan's captaincy predecessors, Arjuna Ranatunga, who dished out a stinging rebuke to the team in the wake of the defeat.

''I'm not really sure if [Sri Lanka] are focused enough to play the longer version," Ranatunga told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I am very disappointed with the commitment of most of the players, in particular I am really worried about a couple of the batsmen and their commitment to the longer version of the game. I think we look much better than Australia on paper, but they are more committed." Ranatunga went on to describe the non-selection of Ajantha Mendis in Galle as "unbelievable", although it seems likely Mendis will play in Pallekele.

Australia will make one change, with Ricky Ponting having flown home for the birth of his second child. That means a Test debut for Shaun Marsh, 28, who will become Australia's 422nd Test cricketer. His father, the opening batsman Geoff Marsh, is the owner of baggy green No. 333.

Also quite new to Test cricket is the venue itself. The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, built for the World Cup, is one of the most picturesque of Test venues, set in the rolling hills just outside Kandy. It's only previous Test was between Sri Lanka and West Indies in December, and it was so badly affected by rain that not even the first innings of the match could be completed.