Australia likely to play with three spinners against Sri Lanka

The Australian team will embark on their tour to Sri Lanka in June this year to play 3 T20 internationals, 5 One Day Internationals, and 2 Test matches.

It is being expected that the Australian team might play with five specialist bowlers in the Test series, which can include three spinners. The squad for the tour consists of three spinners in Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar. 

In a recent interaction with SEN, the newly appointed head coach of the Australian team, Andrew McDonald, has opined on the bowling combinations for the two back-to-back Test fixtures at Galle. 

"You pick three spinners in your squad for that exact reason. We challenged ourselves on it in Pakistan, but the information we had leading into the games, there was probably two spinners at best," said Andrew McDonald. 

Further, 40-year old reckoned that Mitchell Starc can't be left out of the XI to accommodate a spinner. The reason being, he was the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps for Australia in the last bilateral Test series at Sri Lanka in 2016. 

"Mitchell Starc has an unbelievable record in the subcontinent and Sri Lanka in particular. I think the last tour there. He was the leading wicket-taker," the head coach added.  

"So you're going to be a brave man to leave out either the captain [Pat Cummins] or Mitch Starc to pick the third spinner. So it's really how it fits."

"There's a few variables on the ground. But we'll hope to make some good decisions when we get there," he added. 

Earlier this year against Pakistan, Australia played with two spinners, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson and won the Test series 1-0. The youngster Swepson returned with two wickets in the same number of appearances, while Lyon finished with 12 wickets to his name in 3 matches. 

The idea of playing with three spinners in Australia's Playing XI has also been considered due to the nature of the surface at Galle. Last year, the critical wicket-takers in the series between England and Sri Lanka team were the spinners at this venue. 

If the captain Cummins and the team management opt to play with three spinners, Cameron Green would be ahead in the race against Travis Head due to his ability with the ball.