Lehmann happy with spinners for Sri Lanka

Australian coach Darren Lehmann says players and selectors won't 'fight the conditions' on this year's three-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Darren Lehmann.

Australian coach Darren Lehmann says players won't 'fight the conditions' on the tour of Sri Lanka. (AAP)

Darren Lehmann is confident Australia have the spin stocks to thrive in Sri Lanka, where they will seek to continue their Test dominance in July.

Australia reclaimed the No.1 Test ranking in Christchurch this week, recording a 2-0 series win over New Zealand.

Their next Test assignment is a three-match tour of Sri Lanka.

Australia will include at least two spinners in that touring party.

Nathan Lyon is likely to find himself bowling in tandem with Steve O'Keefe or Glenn Maxwell, while Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa are also highly rated by national selectors.

"We're pretty comfortable with where the spinners are at," Lehmann said.

Australia's coach was unsure just how much the Test squad will change compared to the group that crushed NZ in Wellington and Christchurch.

"It'll certainly be different to here," he said.

"How much that changes I don't know but you'd have to have a couple of spinners, (also) blokes who play spin well.

"That's the biggest thing when you play away, you have to change and not fight the conditions."

Lehmann suggested Australia are now doing that better than they used to.

"We've learnt that along the way," he said.

"The advantage we've got is we have A games, an extra tour game in Sri Lanka, so we've got better preparation than before."

Six players - headlined by Michael Clarke - ended their Test careers in 2015.

Lehmann couldn't be happier with how his young side has grown after so much experience walked out the door.

Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja have nailed down their spots in the XI this summer, filling the void left by Clarke and Chris Rogers.

"For success you need to be able to pick and grow as a team," Lehmann said.

"We've been managing to do that because we had such a big exodus of players in one hit.

"That was the advantage, I suppose, as a selection panel .. letting blokes play for a series.

"Lucky enough we're doing that at the moment because we've got so many injuries and retirements."


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world