Australia target winning start to Sri Lanka series
Australia will be attempting to break a five-match losing streak when they play their first ODI against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, and Ricky Ponting won’t be around to help them do it.
Australia’s regular Test and ODI skipper will miss the first of the 50-over per side games against Sri Lanka at the MCG as he flies back to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tasmania-c854 to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
That leaves Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 (two matches in the three match series were abandoned due to rain) and a seven-wicket defeat to Kumar Sangakkara’s side in the sole Twenty20 International match of the Sri Lanka tour.
Pup will be desperate to hand back the reins to Ponting for the second match of the series with Australia in the ascendency, and if his unbeaten 111 against India in Visakhapatnam, a knock that kept the Aussies in the contest after losing both openers early, is anything to judge by will not let the captaincy impact his own performance in this match either.
The return of Mitchell Johnson, who had been rested for Australia’s most recent limited overs clashes, to the squad, and presumably the team, should add some spice to an otherwise pretty inexperienced pace attack, while Peter Siddle will be better for the international hit-out he had in the Twenty20 on Sunday after spending nine months on the sidelines recovering from a back injury.
That pair should be able to cause some headaches for Sri Lanka’s batsmen, but it is Australia’s own batting line-up that needs to stand up and be counted, and none more so than Michael Hussey, who could only manage a golden duck and three in two innings for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Australia-c844.
With the Ashes less than a month away, the middle-order batsman is fast running out of time to turn around a poor run of form, although wearing the green and gold rather than the baggy green against India did produce some much needed runs for the man dubbed Mr Cricket.
Australia isn’t just adding experience to their side for the ODIs though, with Tasmania’s Xavier Doherty poised to make his ODI debut while off-spinner Nathan Hauritz misses the opening match to play for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 in the Sheffield Shield.
The hosts are moving closer to a full-strength side – the return of Ponting and Hauritz later in the series should complete the puzzle – and losing more matches in the lead-up to the Ashes is not an outcome they will want to contemplate.
That said, as the big names return to their squad, victory too should follow.
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