Sri Lanka show some determination, but is it enough? Second Test Day 4

Marvan Atapattu (80/ 164b) and Kumar Sangakkara (109 no /198b) provided the stiffer resistance which pre-series form suggested the Sri Lankans were capable of. They took their team to 3/247 and the match into the fifth day.

Whether Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya (33 no/58b) and those yet to bat will be able to add the 260 runs needed to win will keep (or maybe kindle) public interest in tomorrow's play. The pitch is still playing reasonably well and the Australian attack, lacking the injured Andrew Symonds and with Stuart MacGill bowling prodigally, hasn't performed as well as it might have. Even so, Brett Lee (16-2-40-2) has bowled magnificently and without luck: the first ball of the innings almost did for Atapattu, who edged it and was extremely fortunate that it landed just in front of the diving keeper.

If the Sri Lankans are going to win (and I doubt whether they will, but will eat my words if they do) the two now at the crease (apologies for not typing out their names again) and wicketkeeper Jayawardene will need to make most of the runs. The team may even rue omitting Chaminda Vaas: his batting record is better than any of the last four in the current team.

But it's game on, and all cricket followers should be grateful for this.

Scorecard.

PS

Today's Australian has a good piece by Peter Lalor "Can Test cricket climb off knees?". It draws attention to several of the challenges facing cricket today.

The sun came out for the cricket at Hobart yesterday, but the crowds stayed away again amid worrying signs that the public is only interested in big ticket Ashes-type Test series and one-off events like Twenty20.

This weekend's Australia-Sri Lanka Test attendances have been blown out of the water by the V8 Supercars and even a protest march against a local pulp mill made the cricket crowds look thin.

The car races, which have been on in Tasmania at the same time as the cricket, attracted a crowd of almost 30,000 yesterday while only 5536 attended Bellerive for the Test.

Even more telling were estimates that at least twice as many people turned out on Saturday to protest on the streets of Hobart against the Gunns' pulp mill than turned out to see a Saturday's play featuring the world's best cricket side.

Admittedly the skies were gloomy on the first day of the weekend, but Australia was batting, Michael Hussey scored a century, Andrew Symonds a 50 and Adam Gilchrist smashed his 100th six for another half century during a day of high entertainment.

Three days of Test match cricket in Hobart has attracted 17,000 people while nearly 60,000 showed up for the V8s in the same period.

On Friday 6249 attended the first day of the Test while 14,755 showed up for a practice session for the V8s at the Symmons Plain race track.

On Saturday the first race of the championship attracted a crowd of 16,102 while only 5381 attended Bellerive and yesterday the V8s reported five times the crowd as that at the cricket.

Chief executive of the V8 Supercars Wayne Cattack said the sport worked hard to promote itself and had attracted 3000 schoolchildren to a special event on Friday that had all the drivers signing autographs in pit lane for 90 minutes.

"We were concerned about the competition with the Test match, we did a very intensive launch and marketing campaign leading up the event and we worked hard," he said.

"We weren't sure how the Test would affect us, Tasmania is not a huge state and you are trying to tap into a limited market and we know there's an overlap between the two sports from our research, but we are delighted with the result."

Cattack said he wasn't aware of how the cricket promoted itself, but pointed out the V8s had flown drivers down two months ago to do publicity and that the stars of the sport had been working hard in the past week at local promotions.

There have been concerns about the health of Test cricket in this series which has failed to ignite public interest.

More fans are expected to turn out to the Twenty20 match between India and Australia in February than will attend any of the Sri Lankan Tests.

.....

The limp cricket attendances coincided with a stand-off between CA and a number of news organisations. The Australian and other News Limited papers were locked out of the first day of the Brisbane Test and a number of international agencies did not resolve their differences until the second day of the Hobart Test.

The latest Sweeney Sports report notes a significant decline in brand awareness from sport fans, although cricket was the exception. Todd Deacon, general manager of the research company, said he thought the decrease may be due to more companies and brands competing for attention in a crowded market. Cricket's 3 Mobile was the only major sponsor to increase its awareness.

Australia lead by 296 yet don't follow enforce follow on: Second Test Day 3

Early in the day's play Brett Lee put Sri Lanka on notice with a magnificent yorker which uprooted Michael Vandort's middle stump. Marvan Atapattu fought hard but also succumbed to Lee; Kumar Sangakkara 57/76b played a good one day innings; only captain Mahela Jayawardene 104/194b played a good test class innings in a cause which moved from a losing to a lost one as wickets fell regularly at the other end. All out 246.

Lee 4/82 from 23.2 overs was the best of the Australian bowlers but Mitchell Johnson, Sturt MacGill and Stuart Clark (with a niggardly 2/32 from 16 overs) all showed their quality.

I thought that, with the end of the day's play not too far away and considering how successful the tactic was in Brisbane, Australia would have enforced the follow on. But caution or tradition or whatever ( and just possibly even logic) prevailed and Ricky Ponting opted to bat again. There is of course plenty of time left for Australia to throttle Sri Lanka, but the prognosis for the next two days, or however long it takes the Australian batsmen to amass a huge lead and the bowlers to work through the demoralised Sri Lankan batting line up a second time, doesn't exactly impel me to be glued to the TV or radio.

In the last 20 overs of the day's play Australia rubbed salt into Sri Lanka's wounds by galloping to 1/111 (quadruple Nelson ?) with Phil Jaques 53no/70b. More of the same is on the menu for the early part of tomorrow.

Scorecard.

Brief notes

• The Channel 9 effects mikes have frequently and clearly picked up calls of "no ball" when Muttiah Muraliduran bowls.
  

• The attendances have been poor: just over 5,000 each day.

Australia even better placed despite rain: Second Test Day 2

In today's play Australia advanced from 3/329 to 5/542 dec, with each batsman who came to the crease making a considerable contribution. Mike Hussey 132/220 b, Michael Clarke 71/123b ratcheted up the pace, then Andrew Symonds 50 no /71b and Adam Gilchrist 67 no /77b (including his hundredth test 6) emphasised their team's ascendancy.

The main impediment to their progress was intermittent rain and bad light: the Sri Lankan attack was relatively innocuous (in fact surprisingly so given the reputations of the bowlers) and let down badly by some slapdash fielding.

The weather forecast is better for the next two days, and the Sri Lankan openers hung on to be 0/30 when play ended. The wicket seems to be playing well so that a draw may not be out of the question. The Sri Lankan batting lineup is stronger than in the first test, and its reordering, with Sanath Jayasuriya listed at no 6, means that we should expect a more resolute response this time. It was only a year ago since England declared at 6/551 and yet lost a test, yet it's hard to imagine Sri Lanka being able to both get within range of Australia with the bat and then bowling out Australia cheaply.

I don't want to sound triumphalist; in fact I'd love to see the Sri Lankans put up a sterner fight from now on, but I can't envisage them being able to make a serious push for victory. The Australian attack is, compared to last season's, relatively inexperienced but still looks pretty formidable. My opinion will be tested tomorrow.


Scorecard .

Australia well placed: Second Test Day 1

I'm writing this before the scheduled close of play with Australia 2/281, ie in a dominant position (despite it being early in the match).

Phil Jaques has made another century and the usually reliable Michael Hussey has supported him well, after Matthew Hayden (1&) and Ricky Ponting (31) made by their standards modest contributions.

Scorecard.

Interstate roundup: NSW falter briefly but eventually triumph

Today was hot in Adelaide - the temperature reached 32 degrees- as was the batting of Simon Katich and Dominic Thornely who took their team to a convincing 7 wicket victory over SA.

The Redbacks now are confirmed as favourites to retain the four day (Pura Cup ex Sheffield Shield) wooden spoon.

Scorecard

In the other fixtures Victoria defeated Tasmania and Western Australia defeated Queensland each by an innings.

Australia defeat rain and trounce Sri Lanka

Australia lost only 4 wickets while Sri Lanka lost 20 in a match which extended, thanks to rain and bad light (as adjudged by the ultra cautious umpires), to the penultimate session.

Australia's batting was awesome. I thought that Phil Jaques was very shaky at first but he persisted and eventually flourished, while everyone else who batted: Hayden, Ponting, Hussey, Clarke and Symonds, was in form. And Adam Gilchrist didn't need to come to the wicket.

The result, notwithstanding sterner resistance from the Sri Lankans in their second innings, confirms that Australia are well on the way to adjusting to the retirements of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. Brett Lee clearly relished his new role as the spearhead of the attack, Mitchell Johnson made a good debut, Stuart Clark carried on more or less from where he'd left off last year, while Stuart McGill, if not a Warne clone, was not supported well in the field and - apology for the cliche - bowled better than his figures indicated.

Scorecard.

Sri Lankans fight hard without dominating: First test Day 1

On a rain affected Brisbane day Australia has put together 3/242 from 76 overs. The highlight of course was Phil Jacques's century, which looked most unlikely as he took 34 balls to get off the mark.

The Sri Lankans persevered and never let the game get away from them, despite a few loose overs (mainly from Dilhara Fernando) and some fielding lapses. Even so, they would have hoped to be better placed after winning the toss and asking Australia to bat.

Scorecard.