From the moment protesters began marching past the ground on the second day, the hosts took control and never let go
o 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 Australia, it was a slip back into a past when spin caused conniptions. The lowest point was the previous visit to Sri Lanka, in 2016. They were smashed three times, with only Steve Smith able to cope as the wonderfully understated left-armer Rangana Herath caused collapse after collapse. A more targeted approach to spin selection and preparation followed, and began to bear fruit.
On this visit to Sri Lanka, then, each player had developed his own plan against spin and had coaching staff feed the relevant preparation. Khawaja played off the back foot to watch the ball off the pitch. Alex Carey swept everything. Steve Smith did the opposite, routinely using a straight bat and small footwork adjustments. Labuschagne swept on length in front of square or made room to play off his stumps. Cameron Green used his huge reach to come down the pitch and eliminate turn.
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