Ultimate Guide: All you need to know for SL v AUS Tests

When does it start?

Following three T20s and five ODIs, Australia's first tour of Sri Lanka in six years will finish with a two-Test series over the next fortnight, starting on Wednesday from 2.30pm AEST.

Schedule

Both matches of this two-Test series will be played at Galle International Stadium on the country's south-west coast.

June 29-July 3: First Test, Galle

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle

How can I watch and listen? 

The tour of Sri Lanka will be broadcast exclusively in Australia on Fox Sports and live streamed on Kayo Sports.

Kayo offers a 14-day free trial for new subscribers, and you can sign up for that here.

Radio commentary will be provided by SEN, which has a team on the ground in Sri Lanka, so you can stay up to date even if you're not near a screen.

What about live scores, news and highlights?

Cricket.com.au and the CA Live app have you covered here. There will be live scores for each Test as well as highlights of every key moment to go with match reports, breaking news, analysis and interviews from our reporters throughout the series.

Replays of every wicket will be available in our match centre, courtesy of Fox and Kayo, for Australian viewers.

You can also catch up on all the latest news via The Unplayable Podcast, where we will be joined by special guests to dissect all the talking points throughout the tour. Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts and anywhere else you get your pods.

Interviews already done on this tour include Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith and Jhye Richardson.

What's the time difference like?

Very good for Aussie audiences! Sri Lanka is currently four-and-a-half hours behind Australia's eastern seaboard, which makes the match times for Aussie viewers very similar to a home day-night Test.

Play will start at 10am local, which is 2:30pm AEST, 2:00pm in Adelaide and 12:30pm in Perth.

Stumps is scheduled at 9:30pm AEST each night (9:00pm Adelaide, 7:30pm Perth) but could stretch out an extra half-hour to ensure the teams get all the overs in.

So you can sit back and enjoy some Test cricket in prime time over the next two weeks.

Session times (AEST)

Coin toss: 2:00pm (day one only)

First session: 2:30pm-4:30pm

Lunch: 4:30pm-5:10pm

Second session: 5:10pm-7:10pm

Tea: 7:10pm-7:30pm

Third session: 7:30pm-9:30pm

What will the conditions be like?

No surprises here, but expect lots of spin!

ODI captain Aaron Finch said following Australia's win on a raging-turner in the fifth one-dayer that Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis had given him the hint that the Test pitches will be very similar.

In the past 18 months, there have been four Tests in Galle, with spin taking 113 wickets at 26.75 and pace taking only 21 wickets at 37.09.

Cricket.com.au reporter Louis Cameron, who is on the ground in Galle, reported this week that the dry pitch has been baking in the sun in recent days, yet curators have been ensuring the rest of the square has been kept well-watered.

If the surface plays as expected, the pitch will offer considerable turn but the less abrasive wicket square will likely negate Australia's ability to find reverse swing.

The forecast highs for the next fortnight are around 30 degrees Celsius, with humidity around 80 per cent.

There has been a fair bit of rain so far this tour but thankfully when it has rained, the showers have come and finished quickly.

How are the sides are shaping up?

Given the likely spin-friendly decks, there will be plenty of interest to see just what bowling attack the Australians opt for. Captain Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon are locks, but there is uncertainty over the other positions.

Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the first Test due to a side injury, but could appear in the second Test if he returns to full fitness. Mitchell Swepson played the final two Tests in Pakistan and has held his spot for the series opener after recovering from a stomach bug that ruled him out of the final ODI on Friday. Australian selectors have kept finger spinner Jon Holland, who played on the last Test tour to Sri Lanka six years ago, and fellow left-armer Matthew Kuhnemann, who made his ODI debut last week, with the squad as cover for the injured Agar.

Mitchell Starc bowled on Monday without tape on his left index finger having recently had stitches removed after he sliced the digit open earlier this month in a freak accident. That clears the way for him to take his place in the side and will hope to reprise his dominant 24-wicket campaign in Sri Lanka in 2016.

If Australia select two or more spinners, it's likely Josh Hazlewood will be left out of the XI, as was the case in Pakistan in March.

The visitors' batting line-up appears set to be unchanged with Travis Head likely to be deemed fit for the match following a hamstring complaint, which would put Glenn Maxwell's potential Test return on the backburner, at least for now.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are likely to field a similar side that faced Bangladesh last month.

Unflappable captain Dimuth Karunaratne will open the batting and Australian fans will also be familiar with Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, who both scored centuries on that tour to Bangladesh.

The hosts have picked four spinners in their squad and have all bases covered with off-spinner Ramesh Mendis, left-arm finger spinners Lasith Embuldeniya and Praveen Jayawickrama and leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay.

Probable playing XIs

It won't be official until the coin toss, but here's how the sides are expected to line up:

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lasith Embuldeniya, Asitha Fernando

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head (or Glenn Maxwell), Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Swepson.

Form guide

After making light work of England with a 4-0 victory over summer, Australia went to Pakistan for the first time in 24 years and won a hard-fought series 1-0, with the result decided on the final day of the final Test.

Sri Lanka have played four Tests in 2022, all away from home. In March they were beaten soundly by India in a two-Test series and in May defeated Bangladesh 1-0 across two Tests.

World Test Championship update

Australia currently sit on top of the WTC with five wins from eight matches during the current cycle. It leaves them with a points percentage of 75 per cent, narrowly ahead of South Africa (71.43 per cent) in second.

Sri Lanka are ticking along nicely as well; they sit in fourth position with 55.56 per cent after three wins from six matches. Although it's early days, it's a big improvement for the Lankans, who finished seventh in the previous WTC cycle.

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Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Jeffrey Vandersay. Standby players: Dunith Wellalage, Lakshitha Rasanjana.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. Standby players: Jon Holland, Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy

June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST

Sri Lanka v Australia Test matches will be screened live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports