Prabath Jayasuriya decimated Australia on Test debut in 2022. Steve Smith's men won't be blindsided this time
Aussies expect unexpected from Sri Lanka spin threat
A recurring theme of Australia's preparation for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka has been to expect the unexpected, and that philosophy is not confined to the vagaries of pitch conditions at Galle's quirky seaside stadium.
On their past two visits to the island, where Australia have not won a series since Nathan Lyon made his memorable Test debut at Galle in 2011, the visitors have been confronted by a not-previously-seen spin threat.
In 2016 it was left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan whose maiden international appearance in the first Test of that three-game series yielded 7-107 at Pallekele and was instrumental in Sri Lanka's 106-run first-up victory.
It was just the host nation's second Test triumph over Australia in 27 attempts.
Sandakan finished his first Test series with nine wickets at 23 as the Australia batters quickly came to terms with his variations, but his value as a shock weapon had helped set-up the hosts for an historic 3-0 series clean sweep.
Australia's most recent visit in 2022 threw up another unheralded addition to the bowling ranks when then 28-year-old left-arm orthodox Prabath Jayasuriya debuted in the second Test at Galle after Sri Lanka had lost the first at the same venue by 10 wickets.
Jayasuriya's impact on arrival was even more profound than that of Sandakan who would play just eight more Tests after his rookie campaign.
The left-armer tore through Australia's batting to claim 6-118 and 6-59, to earn player-of-the-match honours as the home team reversed their fortunes from game one to record a win by an innings and 39 runs as the series ended 1-1.
He became just the second Sri Lanka bowler to capture 10 wickets in their debut match, after fellow left-armer Praveen Jayawickrama snared 11-178 in his maiden Test against Bangladesh at Pallekele in 2021.
He's got five!
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 9, 2022
Prabath Jayasuriya is having a debut to remember in Galle! #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/eQhtsH9ZSG
Jayasuriya has since gone to forge an extraordinary Test record at Galle, where he has claimed 71 wickets at 21.78 from eight matches.
That makes him the third-most successful bowler at the ground after Muttiah Muralidaran (111 wickets from 15 Tests) and Rangana Herath (102 from 19).
Australia vice-captain Travis Head said prior to his team's main pre-Test training session today that while the rival spinner might have come as something of a surprise three years ago, his fellow batters have a far better idea of what to expect this time around.
"We've got a blueprint around that," Head said of plans for Jayasuriya who now has 107 wickets from just 18 Tests.
"We've got some footage and we've got so much information that guys will take that as they please.
"We played him last time, he bowled exceptionally well. It's an unbelievable career and an unbelievable career here (Galle) so he's going to be a challenge.
'Every team has got there number one (bowler) as such, we had a pretty good one during the (home) summer in Jasprit (Bumrah, India's spearhead).
"So if we can either keep him as quiet as possible or make it tough for the others the way (we did against India).
"Hopefully we keep him quiet, but if we don't and he ends up taking 17 wickets for the series hopefully it's a losing one."
The mystery threat who may emerge in the current series is 27-year-old off-spinner Nishan Peiris who became the latest to impress on Test debut when he took nine wickets in his maiden match against New Zealand at Galle last September.
Peiris had been added to the Sri Lanka XI for the second match of that series against the Black Caps when seamer Vishwa Fernando was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Sri Lanka have named him in an 18-man squad for the two-Test series against Australia, and may require additional spin-bowling stocks given skipper Dhananjaya de Silva – who also bowls off-spin – sustained a side strain while batting in a domestic game earlier this month.
Head conceded Australia would have a clearer idea of which bowlers they were most likely encounter once the final pitch preparations were completed before Wednesday morning's coin toss.
Galle has been subjected to regular rain and stifling humidity over recent weeks, but if the visitors expect that to result in a lush cover of live grass on the Test strip they will be disappointed.
Following today's training run, stand-in skipper Steve Smith, men's team coach Andrew McDonald and selector-on-duty Tony Dodemaide held a long discussion on the centre wicket which sported a greenish tinge.
However, that hue changed within an hour of the visitors leaving the stadium as Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya and skipper Dhananjaya inspected the surface at close range, with the former on all fours mid-pitch as he ran his hands over the grass cover.
Jayasuriya then engaged in an animated discussion with the head curator, and after Sri Lanka's International Cricket Venue Manager Godfrey Dabare arrived in the middle the groundstaff got immediately to work.
The entire strip was scoured by broom to ensure all the grass was stood up, at which point it underwent more than half an hour of forensic mowing to ensure it presented the sort of bare appearance normally associated with the subcontinent.
"Seeing what the wicket will do over the next couple of days will give us a fair indication as to what their team will look like," Head said today.
"It’s going to be a spin attack at some stage, like last time (2022) where we had an extreme spinning wicket and the next (Test pitch) that played pretty well the first couple of days and then the game sped up.
"At some stage, we are going to have a full-spin attack whether that’s on the morning of day one or whether it’s day three.
"Whenever that shift comes it's exciting."
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)