Australia ‘not up to int’l standard’ - Darren Lehmann
GALLE: Stunned Australian coach Darren Lehmann has delivered a biting
assessment of his team, declaring the tourists were “not up to
international standard” on a day their Test hopes were all but
torpedoed.
On a staggering second day of the second Test when 21 wickets fell,
the Australians, having lost their last eight wickets of their first
innings before lunch, found themselves 3-25 at stumps, chasing 413 to
win.
Skipper Steve Smith will resume unbeaten on one and his deputy David
Warner 22 not out as they seek what would be the third-highest
successful run-chase in history. But it appears the world champions will
fall to what will be their eighth-straight Test loss on the
sub-continent, and another series defeat.
Left-arm finger spinner Rangana Herath became only the second Sri
Lankan to claim a hat-trick, in a stunning morning session, while
off-spinner Dilruwan Perera fell just short of celebrating the same
milestone in the shadows before stumps.
The tourists were unable to read which deliveries were spinning and
which weren’t, highlighted in the second innings when batting plank
Usman Khawaja failed to play a shot and was bowled by Perera. It was the
second time he had fallen to Perera in the day.
Lehmann, who noted four batsmen had fallen to straight deliveries,
was blunt in his assessment when asked for his opinion of Australia’s
performance.
“Disappointing ... the way we played, (that was) not up to
international standard on that performance today. Obviously, there is
still a long way to go, hopefully, but certainly we haven’t played as we
would like,” he said.
Opener Joe Burns (0 and 2) is another batsman who appears to have
technical issues and has dropped in confidence.
What shapes as a series loss here is likely to mean reserve batsman
Shaun Marsh, who is traditionally a strong player of spin, will be
firmly in contention for a recall for next week’s third and final Test
in Colombo.
Lehmann said the battle was as much mental as it was technical, and
said a new, permanent batting coach would need to be settled upon once
the tour was over.
“Decision-making processes haven’t been great for the series so far
for us. We have made some poor decisions against some good bowling -
there is no doubt about that. But we have got to be better than that if
you want to succeed in these conditions and we certainly haven’t been up
to standard so far,” he said.
“I can’t complain about the preparation for the lads and the work
ethic. It gets down to the pressure in the middle of a Test match, and
being able to cope with that. At the moment, we haven’t.
“Certainly some blokes have to look at themselves, how they want to
go about it in these conditions, and how they have got to succeed. We
have, obviously, talked a good game in the media, in the press, how we
want to play but it certainly is not showing up at the moment.”
Stuart Law, the former Australian player and an experienced coach, is
the batting consultant here, replacing Greg Blewitt who has remained at
home for the birth of his child. Blewitt was also in the caretaker role,
having replaced Michael Di Venuto.
“I can’t put my finger on it. We give them as much info as we
possibly can, as you know, and ... we are pretty open with the way we
want to play and the way we want to speak,” Lehmann said.
“It gets down to players doing it on the ground and, at the moment,
we are letting ourselves down as a group. They know what they want to do
- it’s having the belief to do it and succeed. That’s the biggest thing
with Test cricket, especially here on the sub-continent.”
Lehmann praised spearhead Mitchell Starc for his match figures of
11-94 - his maiden 10-wicket haul - but was unhappy with spinner Nathan
Lyon’s input. Lyon took 2-78 off 18 overs and 2-80 off 19 through the
match, and has been outbowled by his Sri Lankan counterparts.
“Disappointing - the same as the batters. There is no doubt about
that,” Lehmann said.
- THE AGE
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