It’s going to be a turner again, Mathews warns Australia

In a week in which there has been mild consternation in Australia about the state of the Galle surface, Angelo Mathews has made no apologies about what the visitors can expect at the SSC: It will turn again, he said – get used to it.

With the island’s ground curators directly employed by the board, Sri Lanka has long catered pitches to the team’s needs. Against India last year, surfaces at the P Sara Oval and the SSC had seam and bounce, as it was hoped those qualities would enhance Sri Lanka’s chances of winning (as it happened, India won both matches).

Against teams from further afield, and particularly Australia, tracks are made to spin, spin, spin.

Australia’s cricketers have focused almost solely on their own performances. But it is clear that reports in the Australian press about “pitch doctoring” in Galle, have prompted indignation within the Sri Lankan team.

“We had to work really hard to win those two games,” Mathews said. “We played better cricket than them. I’m hearing that the Aussies have not played good cricket, and the wickets were poor – I mean, come on, you’ve got to grow up. We play on the same wicket. They’ve got spinners and we’ve got spinners. They’ve fought really hard, but it’s just that our spinners have bowled extremely well. Our spinners have exploited the conditions and bowled better than them. Credit should go to the whole team, the way they’ve worked extremely hard.”

Home-team advantage appears to be increasingly sought in Test cricket. Over the past two years, Sri Lanka has played on pitches in Christchurch and Hamilton that were so thickly layered in grass, they were almost indistinguishable from the remainder of the square. The pitch at Headingley, in May, had been another green top. And often …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com