Galle pain leads Aussies to go big with bowling options

On their most recent Test outing at Galle International Cricket Stadium on Sri Lanka's south coast, Australia was forced to deploy seven bowlers as their hosts kept them in the field for 181 overs in piling on an insurmountable score of 554.

It was the longest an Australia men's outfit had been forced to toil in an away Test since India batted 210 overs on the infamous 'Ranchi road' of 2017, and doubtless helped inform the wealth of bowlers now available on their return visit to Galle.

While regular pacemen Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and allrounder Cameron Green are absent due to family and injury issues, the 16-man squad Steve Smith leads that arrives in Sri Lanka today contains 11 genuine bowling options of varying potency.

In addition to frontline quicks Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Sean Abbott, Australia have specialist spinners Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann, allrounders Beau Webster and Cooper Connolly, plus accomplished part-timers Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney.

It's a wealth of bowling possibilities born from experience during the two-Test tour of 2022, when the first match at Galle was played on a raging turner of a pitch with Australia winning inside three days before a flat surface was rolled out for the subsequent game a week later.

It's the high level of potential variability in the playing surface that ensured flexibility was a decisive factor in naming the touring party which spent the past four days preparing for the Sri Lanka assignment with a training camp at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

Murphy, who is expected to return to Australia's Test starting XI for the first time since the final match of the 2023 Ashes series in the UK, revealed the lack of certainty over what awaits in Galle has been a theme among the squad in Dubai.

"The conversations have been around preparing for a bit or everything," the 24-year-old told cricket.com.au.

"The first Test last time spun massively and then they brought it back a bit and the pitch was a little bit flatter in the second Test.

"I think they (Sri Lanka) have got options in how they want to set it up and we're just trying to cover all bases and make sure we go into it really well prepared for whatever we do see."

The other unknown element will be the weather awaiting in Galle, which has been hosting Test cricket since 1998 but staged matches in January only twice previously – a two-game series against England at the height of the pandemic in 2021, and a one-off fixture with Zimbabwe in 2002.

January is historically the year's driest month in the famous port city with an average rainfall of 80mm and just a handful of rain days, but more than 220mm has already fallen since new year with more forecast over the coming week.

Coupled with a daily maximum temperature around 30C which pushes humidity to a stifling 90 per cent, additional bowling options might be required even if time in the field is limited.

With doubts still remaining over the availability of left-arm spinner Kuhnemann - who flies out of Brisbane today to join the squad in Sri Lanka as he continues to recover from the fractured right thumb he suffered barely a week ago, uncapped 21-year-old Connolly may come under consideration for debut.

The highly regarded Western Australian, who has already represented Australia at ODI and T20I levels, is yet to claim a first-class wicket with his orthodox spin but has been working closely with Lyon and former New Zealand left-armer Dan Vettori on his auxiliary craft in Dubai.

A hugely talented batter who finished the preliminary rounds of BBL|14 as the BKT Golden Bat winner for most runs (351), Connolly's only previous experience on subcontinent pitches was at Chennai's MRF Academy several years ago.

However, he has been absorbing as much information as he can glean from more experienced squad members including Murphy who he first met when the pair were part of Australia's under-19 World Cup squad in 2020.

"I think it's about finding out what ball works best for me in these conditions," Connolly said of his first involvement amid Test company.

"There's the square-seamer delivered over the top, and also working out what speeds are right for the wickets and trying to learn that as quickly as possible before we get into Sri Lanka.

"I've been doing some technical stuff, but being over here on these wickets that offer some nice spin it's all about that consistency and trying to nail the same ball.

"Get batters to make a bad decision because you're going to get natural variation (off the pitch), so that's probably something that sticks out to me.

"Just trying to be consistent and hit the same spot."

Should the specialist spin of Lyon, Murphy and Kuhnemann or Connolly need supplementing, Australia can turn to towering allrounder Webster who began his first-class career more than a decade ago bowling off-spin for Tasmania.

It's only in recent summers the 31-year-old has developed his more-than-useful medium pace but he dusted off the finger spin at the start of this week's training camp in Dubai before reverting to seamers.

Australia have not boasted that level of bowling versatility within a single entity since Colin Miller regularly switched between pace and spin around the turn of this century, and Webster believes his 200cm frame provides a possible point of difference to his fellow tweakers.

"I don't bowl as quick as Starcy (Mitchell Starc) and those sort of guys," Webster told cricket.com.au.

"So if it feels like what I'm doing is not very threatening with the seam up, and there might be a left-hander in or a bit of rough outside (off stump) for a right-hander, I'm more than happy to suggest that maybe off-spin is a bit more of a weapon here.

"We've got a lot of good spinners and a lot of options in this squad now, so I'm more than ready to go if they do need some tweakers but we've got a lot of boys spinning it the same way that I do.

"I could be a bit of different prospect from my height, but we've got the ball going that way (off-breaks) covered pretty well."

While the left-arm spin of either Kuhnemann or Connolly provides a counter-point to those myriad off-spin options, Labuschagne's pacy leg breaks – which he regularly sends down at more than 90kph – proved tough for specialist batters to handle in Dubai.

But the other weapon that seems certain to be rolled out at some stage during the two Tests at Galle starting next Wednesday is Travis Head's remarkably effective finger-spin.

The occasional off-spinner has a knack for claiming important wickets even though he averages barely two overs per Test since making his debut in the UAE in 2018.

Head's most destructive spell – and the one that spawned his now famous celebration whereby his spinning finger is seemingly so hot he needs to plunge it into a cup of ice – came at Galle three years ago where he snared 4-10 from 16 deliveries.

Head noted the inclusion of so many other bowling options in Australia's current touring party means his opportunities with the ball might be even more fleeting than usual, although he was utilised in tandem with other spinners during training sessions in Dubai.

But the 31-year-old vice-captain laughed off suggestions he had been working on a 'mystery ball' and insisted his principal weapon is his lack of specialised bowling skills.

"The mystery is actually bowling," Head said this week.

"There was a little indication (in Dubai) I'll have to bowl a little bit, but Beau (Webster) might take some overs off me, then we've got Marnus (Labuschagne) and McSweeney.

"There's a whole lot of guys that can bowl those part-time things that sometimes work in these conditions, with variations in the wicket and variations with skills set.

"Someone like Gaz (Lyon) is unbelievable at what he does to get to spin the ball consistently the same amount, then there's blokes like me, the tweakers, who can do something a little bit different.

"The ball comes out a bit different, and comes off the wicket a bit differently.

"Hopefully the main guys get the job done and I don't have to bowl too much."

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

First Test: January 29-February 2, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)

Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)