Herath versus the mighty Australians?

The series has not even begun, and, oh dear, Darren Lehmann has called Muttiah Muralitharan a f******** c****. This was in no sense a slur - the likes of which a now-contrite Lehmann used once to refer to Sri Lanka cricketers. Yet his appraisal of Murali as a "fantastic coach" has been received in the vein of a dirty phrase by some. With the island's greatest cricketing weapon now trained on its own team, consternation has been widespread enough for several Sri Lankan MPs to give voice to their umbrage in parliament. Perhaps we should listen to the politicians for a change, because on the subject of switching sides for the right price, these are people who know a thing or two.

Murali can't take all the credit for Steve O'Keefe's ten-wicket haul in Australia's tour match, but thanks at least in part to his work, Sri Lanka now have a second spinner to fear, in addition to Nathan Lyon, one of the best pace attacks in the world, an opposition captain averaging 60 with the bat, a middle-order batsman averaging 96, and an opener for whom boundaries flow from the bat almost as prodigiously as abuse from the lips.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are still mired in their ever-lengthening transition, and worse, their frontline attack is mostly in triage. This will be the third consecutive Test series without Dhammika Prasad's hit-the-deck intensity, thanks to a shoulder complaint. They will also have to do without Dushmantha Chameera's bouncers and bony limbs. Shaminda Eranga has been suspended for an illegal action. And legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who it was hoped might make a Test debut in this series, remains unavailable through a finger injury.

Yet, though the team vehicle appears to be spluttering on the bumpy road to stability and competitiveness, there does appear to be mild optimism for Sri Lanka. Fittingly, it is the cricketer most shaped like a bus driver on whom much of this rests. Rangana Herath had green, unresponsive pitches to work with in England, but now, having shed the multiple jumpers, made appearances for his bank, attended a wedding or two, and spent some time with his family, he prepares to derail his sport's No. 1 team on more conducive home tracks.

Herath was dismayed that, through a quirk of this tour's scheduling, he cannot conspire with his beloved Galle pitch to deliver Sri Lanka the initial series advantage he so often provides. But all international pitches in the country offer turn, and, for Australia, even the seam-friendly Pallekele deck may turn into a dustbowl. For a sidekick, Herath will have Dilruwan Perera, who with his classical action, modest spin and devious smarts, is virtually Herath's offspinning mirror image, right down to the being deprived of chances into his thirties because a senior spinner is already holding court.

Dry decks and twin spin is the strategy the hosts will likely deploy in this series, in light of Australia's failures in India and the UAE, but unlike for the other South Asian sides, the tactic is fraught with danger for Sri Lanka. Perhaps they can be excused for capitulating last year to Yasir Shah, as he is now the top-ranked bowler on the planet, but in the past 13 months, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra and even Kraigg Brathwaite have had Sri Lankan batsmen writhing on their own soil as well.

Perhaps it is because Australia sense this is a series they are expected to win that their standard pre-series insult mill has, this time, been oddly inert. Often, they seem to arrive in each new country with a pre-prepared sheet of sledges to be rolled out systematically in press conferences through the tour. In Sri Lanka, only Mitchell Starc has fired a single, underwhelming shot, claiming that Angelo Mathews is "under pressure after the English tour" and that "as a captain, he'll have to go through that pressure and perform". The thing is, though, Mitchell, Mathews can only be under so much pressure, because there is no alternative choice for the captaincy, and he remains the team's best batsman. So why bother with the jibes, I guess, when reality paints an even bleaker picture? Sri Lanka have just one victory against Test-playing opposition this year, across all formats.

As a result of this terrible run, Sri Lanka's fans have cooled their cricketing passions, and the board has begun a concerted campaign to woo them back. There have been pleas for support from players and PR folk, some rebranding here, a little publicity stunt there. Nothing, of course, will inspire the fan-base like a series victory but, until that comes, the die-hard supporters will have to cling to the hope that rests in Herath, and at least no one can say there isn't enough of him to cling to.