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Australia in Sri Lanka 2011
Harris key to Australia's attack - Bayliss
July 25, 2011
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Trevor Bayliss, the former Sri Lanka coach, has nominated Ryan Harris as the Australian bowler most likely to trouble a formidable home batting line-up during next month's Test series in the island nation.
Harris is one of numerous Australian players waiting nervously to discover whether they will be chosen in the first Test squad to be led by the new captain Michael Clarke, after the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe clouded the selectors' options almost as much as it shed light on them. The squad will be announced on Tuesday morning.
Told earlier this year that he was being considered as more of a Test match bowler, Harris, 31, was omitted from the limited-overs squad for the Sri Lanka tour despite showing he had returned to full fitness during the Indian Premier League. Bayliss said Harris' combination of speed, skid and movement both ways would make him the sort of bowler capable of troubling the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
"From a pace point of view someone like Ryan Harris could be dangerous," Bayliss told ESPNcricinfo. "He is someone who bustles in, a bit quicker than what you think, but bowls a fairly consistent line and length, but nips the ball about and can nip it about off the seam and through the air a bit.
"Someone like that on their wickets over there ... early on with those wickets you get a little bit of swing and a little bit of seam, and someone who maybe skids onto the bat a bit quicker than what you think, and maybe nipping it back in, I think he could do well. [He is] someone who can bowl reverse swing as well when the ball is older."
Beyond Harris, the questions surrounding the Australian attack are many and varied. Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle, the opening bowlers for much of the Ashes last summer, were conspicuously toothless with the new ball in Zimbabwe. Across the two-day and first-class portions of the tour, not once was either able to claim a wicket in their first spells to the top order.
The left-armer Mitchell Starc fared better, while Trent Copeland, another possible selection, bowled long spells but tended to struggle for wickets. Of the touring spin bowlers Michael Beer and Jason Krejza both had their moments of success counter-balanced by the odd expensive spell. Nathan Hauritz will not be considered for reasons of fitness, while Steve Smith's value as a Test match slow bowler is yet to be proven.
"From a spin point of view it depends a little on who they pick, most of them unless it is Nathan Hauritz, the rest of the guys haven't had a lot of experience in the subcontinent," said Bayliss. "So how they handle the pressure of having to bowl against batters who have been brought up on spin-friendly wickets, how they go about their craft under the pressure the Sri Lankan batters will undoubtedly put on Australia's spinners.
"It's not going to be easy, there are going to be some difficult times trying to get through the Sri Lankan batting order. You've got seven guys in the likely batting order to whom they're going to have to bowl very well and there's going to be some hard work to get through those seven.
"Sangakkara and Jayawardene are the main stumbling blocks, and if you can get those two out of the way, it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the batting order. You can't take the rest of the guys lightly, but it does put a little bit of extra pressure on the rest of the guys when the two best players don't score any."
Australia's batting appears a little more settled, as Phillip Hughes secured his place alongside Shane Watson by maintaining a rich vein of form that began in the closing weeks of the Australian domestic season. Usman Khawaja's lack of runs in Zimbabwe should not preclude his inclusion, and Shaun Marsh seems likely to stay on in reserve beyond the limited-overs matches.
Australia's batsmen have shown fallibility against quality bowling in recent times, and Bayliss said they would need to be aggressive in order to avoid becoming tangled in the web of the local spinners Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv and Ajantha Mendis.
"In the Ashes last summer it was more about pace bowlers, but in Sri Lanka it will be more about spin, and Australia's batting against spin," Bayliss said. "Against spin you've got to be a bit more proactive, and try to put the pressure back onto the bowler, so it'll be interesting to see how Australia's batsmen go about facing the Sri Lankan spinners."
Possible squad Michael Clarke (capt), Shane Watson (vice-capt), Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Michael Beer or Jason Krejza, Mitchell Starc.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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Daniel Brettig
Assistant editor Daniel Brettig had been a journalist for eight years when he joined ESPNcricinfo, but his fascination with cricket dates back to the early 1990s, when his dad helped him sneak into the family lounge room to watch the end of day-night World Series matches well past bedtime. Unapologetically passionate about indie music and the South Australian Redbacks, Daniel's chief cricketing achievement was to dismiss Wisden Almanack editor Lawrence Booth in the 2010 Ashes press match in Perth - a rare Australian victory that summer.
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you would almost play Timid Mitch as an allrounder, if only he could bowl!
Posted byPankaj_INDIA Sanga and Mahela dont have a good record outside the country ?you might be kidding ? Mahela have a bad record in Australia and Sanga have a bad record in England but anywhere else they have a good record not like Indian batsmen who score 80% of their runs on Indian Soil
Posted by elakollap on (July 26, 2011, 3:34 GMT)@Pankaj_INDIA , @raja Jayaram and all indian fans Why would you comment in here.Go and comment on Eng Vs India. Your so called no1 team is already 1-0 down.And surely lose the series."Srilankan only bat on there soil" Why yuor great sachin and other batters prevent the defeat.
Posted by Antir on (July 26, 2011, 1:33 GMT)Australia is missing an opening strike bowler. Harris is good but prone to injury. It depends which MJ turns up, i hope that Mcdermott can turn things around. Khawaja should be in the team, his temperament and ability is exactly what we need. Shaun Marsh should be in the team over Hughes but that is not going to happen is it. I like Ferguson but he just seems a little jumpy in international cricket he needs time in the middle but Hussey and Ponting are still there and so they should be. Siddle is workhorse and lacks variety but he should be in the team because he is doing his job effectively so he keeps Copeland and others out of the team. Honestly why not give John Hastings a go, something different. Mitchell Starc is young so he needs some experience let us hope he gets some and does not get injured. The most disappointing thing is the absence of Dougie! Can we solve our spinner problem at the moment, well no we cant so we should just put all the names in a hat and pick one out.
Posted by Dismayed on (July 26, 2011, 1:22 GMT)Harris when fit must play. How does S.Marsh keep getting picked, is he fit and for how long? He must play solid cricket for an extended period to be considered for mine. Give me any other quick in the land before Siddle, please. Smith and O'keefe for me. I could even go for Butterworth as the 3 rd seamer after Johnson and Harris.1. Warner/Hughes,2. Khawaja,3. Watson, 4.Clarke,5. Hussey,6. Smith,7. Paine, 8. O'keefe/Krejza/Lyon, 9. Johnson,10. Butterworth,11. Harris. Any of the Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins, Pattinson, Coulter-Nile, M.Marsh, Richardson(SA) could and should be rotated through as the 3rd seamer.We do have many options if selectors were brave enough. Plus with some of the young guys when Clarke and Ponting continue to fail will still pick up another 150 odd runs in the tail
Posted by" Trent Copeland, another possible selection, bowled long spells but tended to struggle for wickets."
How do you get away with writing crap? Including the 2 day game Copeland took 8 wickets at 23.25 with a s/r of 66.75. (take out the two dayer and it is 7 @ 23.00 s/r 66.00). Only Siddle who took 10 wickets at 21.3 with a s/r of 50.90 did better. But as you note not one of Siddle's wickets came in his new ball spells. It's actually worse than that though. Not one of Siddle's wickets in either of the four day games was a top order batsman. The closest he came to taking a top order wicket was spinner Ray Price (first class average 17.25) promoted up to bat at 6. Siddle was gifted cheap wickets by being given the second new ball to have a lash at the tail.
Copeland wasn't given the new ball, and only one of his wickets was a tail ender. He did the hard slog, picked up the wickets of actual batsmen and kept the runs down in the process. He's the best flat deck pace option we have.
Posted by Mob_King on (July 26, 2011, 0:36 GMT)Where's Doug Bollinger? That kid is the new Merv Hughes! Very surprised at his omission, can someone elaborate on his fitness etc?
Posted by Dhutugemunu on (July 26, 2011, 0:36 GMT)There are silly Indians who are talking about SL rankings. They are happy to see if SL goes down from #4 to #5 after SL vs Aus series, as a compensation for what they are going to see after Eng vs Ind series. This is like " I'm sinking and going to die. But that is ok, because my neighbor is also sinking and going to die." Shame on you guys. Hope you are aware of this scenario. There is a chance for England to thrash India and take over #1. We saw what has happened in the Lord's test. Where is that mighty batting line up you are boasting about? Already 1-0 down and even 1-0 win is enough for England to be joint #1. Worst case for Indians is if they lose 4-0, they are going down to #3. Remember guys there is no one dominating team these days. Be more realistic.
Posted byI'm thinking Khawaja 3, Ponting to 6. Bollinger over rated. Krejza to be the spin option. Harris, Johnson and Siddle to have first crack at Sri Lanka.
Posted by smudgeon on (July 26, 2011, 0:24 GMT)I doubt there will be any major surprises in this squad. Would like to see one of the younger quicks come in in place of Hilf or Siddle, perhaps even a second specialist tweaker. However, I'm sure Smith will get another go, so no second spinner in teh squad. I saw on the news this morning that Michael Feckin' Beer is supposed to be a certainty to go to SL. Please. No. PLEASE.