Five burning questions ahead of Australia's Test series with Sri Lanka

WE ask you the big questions as Australia prepares to face Sri Lanka in their three-Test series starting in Hobart next week.

WE ask you the big questions as Australia prepare to face Sri Lanka in their three-Test series starting in Hobart next week.

WHO REPLACES RICKY PONTING?

Lots of names are being bandied about: Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Alex Doolan and even Rob Quiney, who both Shane Warne and even Punter himself feel deserves another shot despite a pair and an overhyped nine in his two Tests against South Africa.

Hughes appears to be the frontrunner, leading the Shield charts with 518 runs at 51.80 and also piling them on in the Ryobi Cup.

Khawaja would be a more like-for-like replacement, given he is a natural No. 3, but the Australians may take this opportunity to re-jig the order (more on that below).

Doolan rose to prominence with a big ton for Australia A against the Proteas and is average a tick under 60 in the Shield this year.

A smoky we'll throw out there is Callum Ferguson, who is performing for South Australia and has produced in an Australian uniform in the past. Could be a strong option at number four.
 

Punter backs Quiney

WHO WILL FORM AUSTRALIA'S PACE ATTACK?

Peter Siddle comes back, no doubt. But who joins him?

It would be pretty harsh to drop Mitchell Starc after a six-wicket haul and the second fastest 50 in Australian Test cricket history, but he did toss up some junk in South Africa's second innings - going for more than five an over.

Mitchell Johnson took six wickets for the match in Perth and looked dangerous, while John Hastings was solid if nothing else. You'd think the only way Hastings gets a run is if the Australian selectors decide the team needs to bat deeper, though.

The other man in the frame, of course, is Ben Hilfenhaus who was either rested or dropped for Perth - it's not really clear - after looking fairly tame in the first two Tests. He can tie up an end, though.

CAN SRI LANKA BOWL?

We knew all about the South African pace attack before they arrived: Steyn, Morkel, Philander are all world-class.

But what do we know of new-ball bowler Nuwan Kulasekara?  Shaminda Eranga? Chanaka Welegedara? Dhammika Prasad? Nuwan Pradeep? Anyone?

What we do know is not one of them averages under 30 with the ball in Test cricket.

The strength in Sri Lanka's attack, unsurprisingly, is their tweakers.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Rangana Herath is the leading Test wicket-taker in the world in 2012, taking 55 at 20.94 in just eight Tests. Suraj Randiv is also a handy offy.

WHO IS SRI LANKA'S KEY MAN?

We've mentioned Herath, the leading wicket-taker in world cricket this year, but long-time performers Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera remain the men the Australians should be most concerned about.

Allrounder Angelo Matthews has also been in good touch and shapes as a potential danger man.

The Sri Lankans may have just lost a home Test to New Zealand, suggesting Australia should be able to take care of them, but they have drawn a series with England, taken a Test off the Proteas in South Africa and beaten Pakistan in the past 12 months. Anything could happen.

SHOULD DAVE WARNER OPEN THE BATTING?

There are a whole heap of question marks about the actual order of the Australian batting lineup and a big one is whether or not Warner should open the batting.

A lot of it will come down to who comes in for Ponting. If it's an opener like Hughes, for example, Warner could drop down the order, maybe even as far as six where his aggressive style is far better suited.

But then if a number three like Usman Khawaja or Rob Quiney came in, should Shane Watson open the batting again, and Warner drop down? You tell us.