Strike force: Kumar Sangakkara looms as a danger man for Australia on an SCG pitch that suits his batting. Photo: AFP
Generally contests between Australia and Sri Lanka favour the team playing on their home turf. Sri Lanka, like India and Pakistan, are less suited to the harder, bouncier, small-turning surfaces in Australia. Australian batsmen are keen on the hard regular and true pitches.
There's nothing sinister in this; players perform better in conditions where they learn the game or play most of their cricket. The same argument was once true of the WACA versus the SCG in the glory days of the 1980s. The quickest pitch in the world opposed to the dustiest one.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are productive batsmen on most surfaces, but on lower bouncing, slow turning ones they are masters.
NSW had a horrendous record in Perth and the Sandgropers were legless at Moore Park. I have heard the argument from elite batsmen that it is easier to adapt from slow turners to quick bouncers than vice versa but I'm not sure the evidence supports that.
The World Cup brings a different challenge. Australia play Sri Lanka in a Pool A clash important to the sorting of quarter-final opponents.
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Neither team will want to play South Africa (currently second in Pool B) in the first round of eliminators, such is the explosive capabilities of the Proteas. They also have powerful implosive possibilities, but best to find that out in the semi or the final when their psyche is genuinely teetering.
The SCG pitch square has gone through some changes since the soil was washed and relaid during the Olympic Games hiatus in 2000.
The Bulli soil remains the 150-year-old constant bed but the newer grass-growing technologies have made it easier to present a grassy, hard surface that has favoured the quicker bowlers with carry, movement and the preservation of the ball's skin.
It will still give the spinners some help in the longer form of the game but generally the grass is thicker although drier for 50-over matches.
Sri Lanka have chased down 300 there in the past against Australia and have an outstanding 4-2 record at the SCG. Australia have chased poorly when playing the Lankans at the SCG as well, so Angelo Mathews won't be concerned about batting first against the local new-ball merchants.
Alas, for those who generalise Australian pitches as "fast and bouncy", the SCG this season has been showing signs of retreat back to the balding strip of yesteryear.
The centre two pitches on the 10-pitch block are generally reserved for the most important games – Test match on number five, ODIs the same or six.
The World Cup semi-final is designated for pitch five, which was used for the New Year's Test match, giving the surface a desirable combination, for an ODI, of having already been used but not overused and with eight weeks of regrowth.
The grass cover on No.6 was not considered enough even for the Test match, as the artefact of the centre circle from the AFL season hadn't completely healed.
The Test was moved away from the traditional pitch six to No.5 at late notice.
For some reason, the pitches this summer at the SCG have generally lacked the grass cover of recent years. That is not really an issue for Test or Sheffield Shield games where the spinners are an essential part of the game and the faster bowlers have to work hard to eke out rewards.
The draw on the final day of the Sydney Test was testament to those conditions.
What the current state of the SCG pitches and their preparation brings is Sri Lanka very much into equal favouritism for this match.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are productive batsmen on most surfaces, but on lower bouncing, slow turning ones they are masters.
The support batsmen will carry much less trepidation out to the crease if they suspect that Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood's bounce will be thigh-high rather than throat-high.
The Sri Lankan bowling lacks genuine pace but relies heavily on spin and medium pacers who vary the speed constantly, and they are quite skilful in gripping conditions.
Australia have found a combination that contains just one part time-spinner, perhaps that is why Michael Clarke elected to have a bowl himself against Afghanistan – he was practising for Sydney.
There is no doubting the quality of the Australian quicks with the new, wearing and worn white ball. If death bowling requires reverse swing, Starc and James Faulkner can bring it.
Faulkner's selection in front of Shane Watson becomes a no-brainer when his value as a late-order hitter is multiplied by his late-overs bowling. The Faulkner back-of-the-hand slower ball becomes the equivalent of spin bowling.
If Australia win this in a tight finish and Sri Lanka's net run rate doesn't suffer a significant fall, it will be virtually impossible for England to make the quarter-finals.
Can there be any greater motivation than that? Probably yes, but that ingredient will add a delicious aftertaste. Former NSW assistant coach Chandika Hathurusingha, now in charge of Bangladesh, has all our best wishes for a stirring victory against England on Monday in Adelaide.
Generally contests between Australia and Sri Lanka favour the team playing on their home turf. Sri Lanka, like India and Pakistan, are less suited to the harder, bouncier, small-turning surfaces in Australia. Australian batsmen are keen on the hard regular and true pitches.
There's nothing sinister in this; players perform better in conditions where they learn the game or play most of their cricket. The same argument was once true of the WACA versus the SCG in the glory days of the 1980s. The quickest pitch in the world opposed to the dustiest one.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are productive batsmen on most surfaces, but on lower bouncing, slow turning ones they are masters.
NSW had a horrendous record in Perth and the Sandgropers were legless at Moore Park. I have heard the argument from elite batsmen that it is easier to adapt from slow turners to quick bouncers than vice versa but I'm not sure the evidence supports that.
The World Cup brings a different challenge. Australia play Sri Lanka in a Pool A clash important to the sorting of quarter-final opponents.
Advertisement
Neither team will want to play South Africa (currently second in Pool B) in the first round of eliminators, such is the explosive capabilities of the Proteas. They also have powerful implosive possibilities, but best to find that out in the semi or the final when their psyche is genuinely teetering.
The SCG pitch square has gone through some changes since the soil was washed and relaid during the Olympic Games hiatus in 2000.
The Bulli soil remains the 150-year-old constant bed but the newer grass-growing technologies have made it easier to present a grassy, hard surface that has favoured the quicker bowlers with carry, movement and the preservation of the ball's skin.
It will still give the spinners some help in the longer form of the game but generally the grass is thicker although drier for 50-over matches.
Sri Lanka have chased down 300 there in the past against Australia and have an outstanding 4-2 record at the SCG. Australia have chased poorly when playing the Lankans at the SCG as well, so Angelo Mathews won't be concerned about batting first against the local new-ball merchants.
Alas, for those who generalise Australian pitches as "fast and bouncy", the SCG this season has been showing signs of retreat back to the balding strip of yesteryear.
The centre two pitches on the 10-pitch block are generally reserved for the most important games – Test match on number five, ODIs the same or six.
The World Cup semi-final is designated for pitch five, which was used for the New Year's Test match, giving the surface a desirable combination, for an ODI, of having already been used but not overused and with eight weeks of regrowth.
The grass cover on No.6 was not considered enough even for the Test match, as the artefact of the centre circle from the AFL season hadn't completely healed.
The Test was moved away from the traditional pitch six to No.5 at late notice.
For some reason, the pitches this summer at the SCG have generally lacked the grass cover of recent years. That is not really an issue for Test or Sheffield Shield games where the spinners are an essential part of the game and the faster bowlers have to work hard to eke out rewards.
The draw on the final day of the Sydney Test was testament to those conditions.
What the current state of the SCG pitches and their preparation brings is Sri Lanka very much into equal favouritism for this match.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene are productive batsmen on most surfaces, but on lower bouncing, slow turning ones they are masters.
The support batsmen will carry much less trepidation out to the crease if they suspect that Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood's bounce will be thigh-high rather than throat-high.
The Sri Lankan bowling lacks genuine pace but relies heavily on spin and medium pacers who vary the speed constantly, and they are quite skilful in gripping conditions.
Australia have found a combination that contains just one part time-spinner, perhaps that is why Michael Clarke elected to have a bowl himself against Afghanistan – he was practising for Sydney.
There is no doubting the quality of the Australian quicks with the new, wearing and worn white ball. If death bowling requires reverse swing, Starc and James Faulkner can bring it.
Faulkner's selection in front of Shane Watson becomes a no-brainer when his value as a late-order hitter is multiplied by his late-overs bowling. The Faulkner back-of-the-hand slower ball becomes the equivalent of spin bowling.
If Australia win this in a tight finish and Sri Lanka's net run rate doesn't suffer a significant fall, it will be virtually impossible for England to make the quarter-finals.
Can there be any greater motivation than that? Probably yes, but that ingredient will add a delicious aftertaste. Former NSW assistant coach Chandika Hathurusingha, now in charge of Bangladesh, has all our best wishes for a stirring victory against England on Monday in Adelaide.
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