Australian squad announced for three-day tour match

Australia has announced a 12-man squad for the three-day tour match beginning tomorrow at P Sara Stadium in Colombo. David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques will miss out on the tour match.

Shaun Marsh, who scored an unbeaten century in the two-day warm-up match will replace Warner at the top of the order. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who was suffering from illness is included in the squad, assuming he recovers in time. Lyon didn’t take part in training today.

All-rounder Mitch Marsh has echoed the great Mike Hussey’s thoughts when it comes to batting in the sub-continent. “Sometimes in the subcontinent wickets can fall in clumps as it is difficult to start your innings if the ball is turning or reverse swinging,” Hussey told News Corp.

“So the middle order will have to be very sharp and positive especially early in their innings,” he added.

???? #SLvAUS

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Marsh insists patience will be vital over the next five weeks. “That’s something that we’ve spoken about as a batting group already,” Marsh told cricket.com.au in Colombo. “Being as sharp as we can to start our innings.”

“It’s about being able to grind as long as you can and bat time, and the longer you bat in these conditions the easier it gets. So I think patience is going to be the big thing for our batting here.”

Pitch preparation continues at P Sara Stadium ahead of Australia's three-day tour match starting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/y9vk3mDs47

— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) July 17, 2016

Australia squad: Shaun Marsh, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitch Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Stephen O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird, Nathan Coulter-Nile (12th man to be named).

Sri Lanka Cricket Board XI: Madawa Warnapura, Osanda Fernando, Manoj Sarathchandra (wk), Asela Gunarathna, Shehan Jayasuriya, Milinda Siriwardana (c), Dasun Shanaka, Chathuranga Silva, Nisala Tharaka, Vimukthi Perera, Dilhara Fernando. Stand-by players: Lasith Embuldeniya, Chamika Karunarathna