Australia may need reinforcement after O'Keefe injury

Adam Zampa or Jon Holland may soon fly to Sri Lanka to replenish Australia's spin stocks after Steve O'Keefe suffered an injury to his right hamstring on day three of the Pallekele Test match.

In a bad sign for his prospects of being fit in time for the second Test in Galle next week, O'Keefe was unable to complete his 17th over before leaving the field, and did not re-emerge for the remainder of the day as the hosts motored to a substantial lead.

The young batsman Kusal Mendis prospered in O'Keefe's absence, and said the lack of a spinner turning the ball away from the bat was a big advantage. "He proved he was the biggest threat to the right-handers," Mendis said. "The injury to O'Keefe is a setback to Australia for sure."

O'Keefe's injury is not only tactically troubling but also a logistical problem for the Australians: MRI equipment required for scans is not available in Kandy, meaning he will have to travel to Colombo for full assessment of the injury. Even if O'Keefe is a chance of recovering in time for what is likely to be a sharply turning wicket in Galle, the tour selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann may see fit to fly in one of Holland or Zampa.

"I feel sorry for Steve, he's one of my good mates and to see him injure himself I'm not sure where he's at, but to see him go off the field and for Australia to lose a vital member of our bowling attack is a pretty big loss for us," Lyon said. Asked about whether he might need spin support in Galle, he said: "I'm confident in my own skill to get the job done, but I don't pick and choose the team."

Of the two spin bowlers, the legspinner Zampa has spent more recent time around the Australian limited-overs team, and is currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League. Holland, a left-arm orthodox bowler, has impressed in all his recent opportunities for Victoria, including a pivotal role in their Sheffield Shield final victory over South Australia. He is currently in Brisbane with Australia A.

For Lyon, the day's events took some gloss away from the achievement of claiming 200 test wickets, making him the first Australian offspiner to do so. He had struck early in the day with the wicket of Angelo Mathews, caught off bat and pad, but had to wait another several hours before the 200th victim arrived, Dhananjaya de Silva beaten in flight and pushing a catch to mid-off.

"I'm very proud of it, but in saying that it probably hasn't really sunk in yet in the middle of a pretty hard Test match," Lyon said. "I'll look back at it at the end of this Test match or the end of the series and look at the achievement. But I can't wipe the smile off my face, that's for sure, it's been a pretty good ride so far, hopefully there's a few more to come."