Sri Lanka’s Test team look to future as Australia briefly slip back into past | Geoff Lemon

From the moment protesters began marching past the ground on the second day, the hosts took control and never let go

So in the small city of Galle ended a momentous few days on the field and beyond. For Sri Lanka the nation, a popular revolt removed a tarnished president from power. For Sri Lanka the cricket team, a stunning turnaround swept away the visiting Australians to level a Test series. It would be naff to equate the two, but it would equally be naive to discount the broad as an influence on the narrow. Players are people too. For months, Sri Lankans en masse have sweltered through nightly power cuts, daily shortages of essentials and weekly price spikes. Transport paralysis has caused economic atrophy. The departing prime minister says the country is bankrupt. On the back of the pandemic, there is a national level of exhaustion.

In this context, Sri Lanka’s players had to absorb a belting from the visitors in the first Test, bowled out in 22 overs as Australia’s spinners turned supposed home advantage against them to finish the match before its allotted halfway mark. Nobody looked competent against Nathan Lyon. Positive Covid tests started coming in, first removing Angelo Mathews mid-match and then a slew of squad players between Tests. Replacements were drafted in, then replacements for replacements. One vastly inexperienced bowling attack was replaced by another even more so. Of the four spin options eventually picked, three were on debut.