Western Australia's Cooper Connolly receives Baggy Green No.471 to make four debutants in as many Tests
Connolly debuts as Aussies look for Galle sweep
Cooper Connolly will complete a meteoric rise through Australia cricket ranks when he makes his debut in the second Test against at Galle this afternoon where Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat.
Connolly, the spin-bowling allrounder who is yet to take a wicket in four first-class appearances, received Baggy Green Cap number 471 from fellow Western Australian and former Test allrounder Simon Katich.
Connolly's father Shane (a former player and coach with WA Premier Cricket club Scarborough) and mother Donna were on hand for the presentation having travelled from their home in Perth prior to last week's first Test.
Connolly replaced Todd Murphy in the XI from last week's first Test at Galle as Steve Smith's team looks to further bolster their batting depth on a track purpose-prepared to aid spin bowling and on which runs are likely to come at a premium.
Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lahiru Kumara
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann
Connolly was earlier this week named Player of the Tournament for BBL|14 after starring for Perth Scorchers with the bat and finishing as leading runs scorer.
Murphy bowled just 17 overs for a solitary wicket while Webster was not required to bowl and contributed 23 (off 50 balls) with the bat in the opening Test which Australia won by a hefty innings and 242 runs.
Sri Lanka also made changes to their starting line-up as they look to repeat their effort of the previous series between the teams in 2022 when they recovered from a heavy loss in the first game to win the second by an innings.
Opener Pathum Nissanka was reinstated having recovered from a groin injury and replaces Oshada Fernando.
In addition to Nissanka as opener,Sri Lanka added off-spinner Ramesh Mendis who played the most recent of his 15 Tests against New Zealand at Galle last September, in place of leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay.
Pace bowler Lahiru Kumara also comes into the starting XI I place of fellow seamer Aasitha Fernando
A special pre-game presentation was also made to former Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne whose 100th Test appearance today will also be his last, having announced his retirement from all forms of the game yesterday.
When asked yesterday about the prospects of Connolly making his debut given the extreme conditions, Smith claimed he was not fazed by the left-armer's lack of red-ball bowling experience.
He also pointed to the work Connolly has completed with former New Zealand left-arm spinner (now Australia assistant coach) Daniel Vettori since arriving in Sri Lanka two weeks ago, and on the week-long pre-tour training camp in Dubai.
"From what I've seen in the nets he bowls some really good balls," Smith said of Australia's newest Test cricketer.
"He was pretty consistent where he was bowling in Dubai and in the nets here, and that's kind of all you've got to do in these conditions.
"Just try and bowl as many good balls in a good area, and just let the conditions take over.
"I think he's only bowled (16) first-class overs back in Australia but it's entirely different the way you bowl (here), and the way he does bowl and the way it comes out suits him quite nicely.
"It's another batter who bowls more than handy spin and spins the same way as (fellow left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann."
The 21-year-old's elevation also furthers the rejuvenation of the men's Test team as he becomes the fifth player to debut since the start of the Australia summer as they prepared for the Border Gavaskar Trophy campaign with no player aged below 30.
Since then, caps have been awarded to Nathan McSweeney (aged 25), Sam Konstas (19), Beau Webster (31) and Josh Inglis (29) with former Australia under-19 captain Connolly now joining those ranks.
Speculation had grown over Connolly's inclusion in recent days, and the intrigue heightened as he, Murphy and Webster appeared to be involved in a centre-wicket 'bowl off' at yesterday's training session.
The trio operated on a well-worn practice pitch under the close watch of men's team coach Andrew McDonald and fellow selector Tony Dodemaide as they sought to clarify which of their additional bowling options might prove most effective on the arid-dry Test strip which reportedly showed signs of scarification.
In his pre-match media conference at Galle Stadium yesterday, Smith had outlined why he likes to have three specialist spinners at his disposal when captaining in Tests on dry subcontinent pitches.
In these conditions it's great to have more than two options of guys that can take wickets and build pressure," Smith said citing the way India use Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel alongside spin staples Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
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"It's tiring for a spinner as well, it's pretty hot and humid out there and you can get tired bowling spin as well as pace.
"It just gives you an extra option.
"If somebody looks really comfortable against you, get them off and bring someone else and hopefully change the momentum.
"And even if they take a wicket in their first over, the new bowler, you can always go straight back to the other guy which is what I think India have done so well with their spinners for a number of years.
"And I have a similar philosophy to the way I want to go about it."
Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka
First Test: Australia win by an innings and 242 runs
Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)
Sri Lanka Test squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka (subject to fitness), Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake
Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)
Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)