Australia v Sri Lanka 1st Test at the Gabba: Tourists plan to hit Kurtis Patterson with short-pitch barrage
Kurtis Patterson plundered twin centuries against the Sri Lanka in Hobart, but the tourists believe the Gabba surface can help them expose a chink in the armour of the NSW debutant.
Sri Lanka is plotting a bouncer barrage against Kurtis Patterson on Thursday as the NSW star prepares for a fiery welcome to Test cricket at the Gabba.
Patterson plundered scores of 157 not out and 102 not out against the Sri Lankans in Hobart last weekend, securing his incredible rise to the baggy green, but the tourists believe the Brisbane surface can help them expose a chink in his armour they couldn’t find five days ago.
Captain Dinesh Chandimal insists Sri Lanka’s unheralded attack does have the speed and power to put the Australian top order under pressure.
Former great Russel Arnold urged his countrymen to pepper 192cm bogyman Patterson with short balls in a bid to ruffle the feathers of the largely unflappable left-hander.
“Even Kurtis Patterson was worried by the short ball to a certain extent in the first innings (in Hobart),” said Arnold.
“They should use it. I think there will be a lot more pace here. In Hobart, the short ball ploy was just sitting up to be spanked, but it’s certainly something they really need to go to.
“Sri Lanka don’t have much experience but there is a bit of pace, so hopefully they can get it together.”
It’s a stunning debut for Patterson who was only called into the squad on Sunday night on the back of his monstrous hundreds in a tour match.
The 25-year-old St George junior in Sydney’s southern suburbs is set to be thrust in at No.6 for his debut.
Bouncing him will be no easy feat given the lanky figure stands as tall at the crease as Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins.
Lahiru Kumara is the fast bowler Sri Lanka will be sending out to bombard him, with the 21-year-old capable of rocketing them through at 140km/h an hour.
Sri Lanka’s attack struggled to find the killer blow in New Zealand recently, but rather than be shying away from the Gabba pitch, Chandimal says his team will embrace the chance to fight fire with fire with the pink ball.
“When you look at the pitch you can see a lot of grass on the wicket. We have got really good fast bowlers who can bowl over 140,” he said.
“It’s totally different conditions from here to Hobart. When you come to Brisbane we have a lot of bounce here and in Hobart we didn’t get that.”
A bullish Chandimal insists the Australian batting line-up is vulnerable.
“We never underestimate the Australian team, but in their batting unit they are missing a lot of experienced players. So we can put them under a bit of pressure,” he said.
Australia’s fast bowlers didn’t net a single lbw during the failed series against India, and captain Tim Paine says his side’s revised bowling plans will also centre on unleashing their own bouncer assault.
“Clearly we need to be hitting the stumps a little bit more than we were – there’s no doubt about that and that’s been spoken about – but we also felt we didn’t use our bouncer as much in that series as we would have liked, and sometimes when you’re using your bouncer a couple of times an over and then when you do pitch up it’s a bit more effective, so there’s two bits to that,” said Paine.
Former Test batsman and Fox Sports commentator Arnold has made the stinging claim that the Sri Lankan players may feel they can no longer trust their own teammates given the corruption scandal gripping the nation’s cricket set-up.
“It is easy to say (they can put it out of their minds) but I doubt it happening because anything around will certainly worry players,” said Arnold.
“But trust does take a beating. You tend to wonder what the hell is going on. I would be surprised if none of this is in the back of their mind, whether they can trust their teammate, whether they can trust anyone’s instructions or game plans to carry out.
“It has to worry them.”
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