Weather still the one to beat

SYDNEY—The last time Australia and Sri Lanka met in a one-day international the game’s conclusion was ruined when the umpires forced play to continue as darkness fell on the World Cup final in Barbados.
Weather looms as the only thing that could spoil their rematch at the SCG on Friday, with a cracking contest likely if the rain stays away. Unfortunately, that “if” should be bold and underlined.
Sydney spectators have witnessed some superb cricket from Sri Lanka over the years, although they have never played a Test there. They like the ground so much they have won four of their last five ODIs at the venue. “Maybe that’s why they don’t let us play Test cricket here,” Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, said jokingly ahead of the third CB Series game.
There have been some brutal individual efforts in those victories, especially by Sanath Jayasuriya, whose past five ODI innings at the SCG have brought 65, 122, 106, 114 and a duck in their most recent loss there. His aim of scoring a fourth century at the ground might be hampered by the weather, however, with the showers that drifted through Sydney on Thursday likely to continue on Friday.
Both teams hope the conditions are fine enough to cobble together a result, having each opened their CB Series campaigns with a wash-out against India in Brisbane. “It’s probably been frustrating for all three teams I suppose,” Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting said. “Brisbane, the weather up there last week was horrendous and it hasn’t been much better this week. Our preparation has been a little bit different this week than we probably would have liked.”
Australia’s abbreviated match against India at the Gabba allowed Ponting a little extra time to rest after suffering back soreness in the Adelaide Test against India late last month. Ponting conceded he should have retired hurt rather than batting on in the Test, although he is now confident of making it through the whole CB Series.
“I must admit I battled through [Sunday’s] game in Brisbane,” he said. “I had a lot of work over the last few days here but today I purposely had a really long hit-out in the nets out the back just to get a bit more confidence in my movements and try and iron out a bit of the stiffness that I’ve got.”
Ponting’s soreness has not helped his fielding and he was one of the culprits in the first ODI when two catches went down in the slips. There were several uncharacteristic misses from Ponting’s team-mates in the field during the Test series and he said the trend was starting to worry him.
“The catching is a concern,” Ponting said. “We’ve had guys moving all over the place in the cordon, [Andrew] Symonds coming in, Michael Clarke moving around first and second slip. It seems like if there’s a half-chance or a hard chance we’re putting them down but the more hard work we do they’re going to start to stick pretty soon.”
Matthew Hayden’s return - Ponting said he was a definite starter after missing the opening game with a hamstring problem - should help as he slots back into his customary position at first slip. The news might not be so good for Australia’s other notable absentee from the Brisbane match, Stuart Clark, who remains on the fringes of the limited-overs team.—Agencies