Smith's men face stern test

The last time the players of Sri Lanka and South Africa walked off the field together in a Test match, at SuperSport Park in late 2002, both camps realised that their rivalry would never be the same again. South Africa scraped home in that memorable if rancorous match to win the series 2-0, but Sri Lanka had fought them to the wire with a fearless and aggressive performance, throwing off in the process an inferiority complex that had allowed them to be dominated for a decade.

Sri Lanka realised then that the best way to counter South Africa's abrasive style was by playing in a similarly aggressive and antagonistic manner. Sri Lanka sensed unease when they gave back as good as they got, and if that meant an acrimonious and fiery contest, then that was a necessary price of success. Sri Lanka are generous hosts, but poor losers.

Thus when the rivalry resumes with a two-Test series starting at Galle tomorrow (August 4), prepare for an explosive and gripping confrontation. Two-match series can be turgid affairs, marred by an unwillingness to take risks, but this one should be anything but stale and slow-paced, although there will surely be long periods of attrition and entrenchment. The cricket is sure to be intense and tough and should be utterly absorbing. Don't be surprised if the match referee earns his fee. You can almost feel the tension rising, the two teams, like prize boxers in the final minutes before entering the ring, looking forward to striking the first blow.

Sri Lanka, buoyant after their successes in the Asia Cup and battle-hardened by their recent tussles with Australia, are a side now focused on a steady climb up the International Cricket Council's Test table, and are determined to win their first series against South Africa. Graeme Smith's team, meanwhile, will be starting a new season afresh, led by a bold and aggressive leader, who believes his players face a year of reckoning as they try to claw back ground lost to Australia - and England and India - and re-stake their claim to be one of the world's best teams.

Four years ago, South Africa escaped with a 1-1 series draw in Sri Lanka, bouncing back from a first-Test drubbing at Galle during a pulsating contest in Kandy, a defeat that still rankles with Sri Lanka's players, the hard core of whom will also be playing in this series. Sri Lanka had looked far too strong for a South Africa team - which was making its return to the international game after the match-fixing scandal that had left it deeply scarred - being led for the first time by Shaun Pollock, but somehow they regrouped in time, showing immense character and resolve. The final match in Colombo was drawn.

Since then, Sri Lanka's star has risen and fallen. There was a nine-Test winning run from 2001 to early 2002 and then a slump back into mid-table mediocrity after their loss against England the same year. Changes to the captaincy - confusingly shared between Hashan Tillakaratne and Marvan Atapattu after the resignation of Sanath Jayasuriya in April 2003 - and the management team unsettled the team for a while and stymied progress. But after a welcome three-month break and a long preparation phase with John Dyson, the new coach, the first signs of progress appeared at the end of the year with a convincing victory against England.

When Australia arrived in February, the Sri Lanka team was quietly confident of pushing the world champions hard and winning the series. But, despite building winning positions, securing first-innings leads in all three matches, Australia completed a whitewash - the first Sri Lanka had suffered at home. The defeat prompted some hard-nosed self-assessment within the team. Sangakkara describes it now as "a blessing in disguise" as it precipitated a major rethink in the team's attitude and approach. It also ended Tillakaratne's Test career.

During Sri Lanka's tour of Zimbabwe, Atapattu and Dyson introduced a new preparation schedule. Players were encouraged to think for themselves and start taking more responsibility for their own preparation. Mundane net sessions were not forced down the players' throats and a new relaxed, but nevertheless focused, team culture started to take hold. Players were encouraged to enjoy their cricket and trust their ability. All the while, Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene, the vice-captain, worked behind the scenes pulling the team together and fostering a stronger team spirit.

A change became evident in the second Test against Australia at Cairns when Sri Lanka escaped with a well-fought draw. There was a clear spillover of confidence into the Asia Cup. A surprise 12-run victory against India, the tournament favourites, at Dambulla boosted morale further. Sri Lanka had were now playing their most vibrant and self-confident cricket since before the 2003 World Cup. Whether the Asia Cup final was won or lost, Sri Lanka had turned a corner and started to move forward. South Africa will face a resurgent team.

Of course, it will be hard for Sri Lanka to quickly adapt back to Test cricket. They had just three days break between the Asia Cup final and the Galle Test. But they, at least, have been playing competitive cricket and will therefore be match-fit. Most of South Africa's players (the lucky ones were playing county cricket in England) come straight out of a southern-hemisphere winter, where there only significant preparation was a training camp on the cold Pretoria highveld, hardly ideal preparation for the sapping heat and humidity of Sri Lanka. With only one practice game to throw off any early-season rustiness, they face an enormous challenge.

South Africa's strategy will be intriguing. They have left behind Paul Adams, their biggest turner of a cricket ball, and will come armed instead with a couple of more orthodox left-arm spinners, Nicky Boje and Robin Peterson, who while steady operators are hardly unlikely to induce heart palpitations in the Sri Lanka camp. But Smith, quite rightly, appears to have recognised that fast bowling is his team's strength and Sri Lanka's weakness. Spinners do win matches in Sri Lanka, but pacemen, especially swing bowlers, can also play important roles, as shown by the likes of Michael Kasprowizc in the Australia series and Chaminda Vaas over many years.

Unfortunately, for South Africa, the series starts in Galle: a penal colony for quick bowlers and a fortress for Sri Lanka. For the likes of Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel and Nantie Hayward, the opening five days of the series will be the hardest. Somehow, they must keep their team in the series and prevent Sri Lanka's batsmen, so at home on the slow-paced Galle pitch, from piling up their customary large first-innings total. If South Africa can escape with a draw then the quick men can look forward with a little more enthusiasm to Colombo, where the pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club offers greater pace and bounce.

The disadvantage of opening in Galle is more than compensated though by the fact that Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lanka's sorcerer, will not be bowling his "doosra", the delivery that was chiefly responsible for England's downfall and his 28-wicket series bag against Australia. Contrary to many reports, the delivery has not been banned, but he has decided against bowling it until the International Cricket Council completes its review into tolerance levels for spin bowlers in November. Thus South Africa's batsmen will not have to contend with a ball that darts way in the opposite direction to his stock offbreak; a wicked variation that is extremely well-disguised. However, Murali will surely remain the key threat. His top-spinner (already tested and cleared in 1999), which zips straight on, remains an important weapon.

There is some more bad news for South Africa: Sri Lanka's bowling attack is no longer two-pronged. The dangerous over-dependence on Murali and Vaas has been weakened by the emergence of new talent, particularly Lasith Malinga, and the fast development of old talent, especially Nuwan Zoysa and Upul Chanana. Zoysa has been a revelation since returning against Australia with extra zip and an inswinger, while Chandana, for so long derided by many as a gentle roller, has started to make his legbreaks spit and spin far more viciously than most observers thought possible. Rangana Herath too, a tight and reliable orthodox left-armer, has re-emerged in the Test arena successfully.

South Africa's batsmen, now without the support of Gary Kirsten, their middle-order rock, must devise a plan to keep Sri Lanka's slow bowlers at bay. As many as three sometimes play at Galle (not including the part-timers Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera). Sri Lanka, meanwhile, must concentrate on keeping out the new ball, for once the ball softens South Africa's bowlers will have to fall back upon a policy of containment, unless they can find some reverse-swing. In all probability, those will be the two contests that decide the series.