Key posts
Sri Lanka have won the toss and will bat
Australia will start in the field in Galle, with Sri Lankan skipper Dhanajaya De Silva winning the toss and electing to bat. Good toss to win for the home side, who watched Australia plunder 654 runs in their only innings of the last the match.
Here are the final teams for the second Test. Jeffrey Vandersay has been dropped after taking 3-182 and making score of four and 53 in the first Test.
First ball is at 3.30pm AEDT.
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann.
Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhanajaya De Silva (c), Kusal Mendis, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jaysuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lahiru Kumara.
Cooper Connolly of Australia is presented with his cap by Simon Katich. Credit: Getty Images
Connolly has played four first-class fixtures. Here are the Aussies who played fewer and got a baggy green
A lot of chat about Cooper Connolly’s selection in the side. Is predominantly a batsman but got picked on this tour his left-arm orthodox spin and ability to take the ball away from a right-hander.
He’s never made a first-class hundred (highest score of 90 in a Sheffield Shield final) and is yet to snare a first-class wicket.
However, Connolly is a player of promise. Mark my words. He has 309 runs at 61.8 from six innings.
I messaged stats guru Adam Morehouse before the series in the event Connolly would debut in Sri Lanka. He’s pulled up a list of the fewest first-class matches by Australians before making their Test debut. A bloke with three matches to his name on the below list rings a bell.
Toss shortly in Galle.
First-class matches before making Test debut
0: JR Hodges, TK Kendall
1: JT Cottan, TW Garrett, HA Musgrove, RJ Pope, J Worrall
2: WE Midwinter, WH Moule, WR Robertson
3: JM Blackham, A Cotter, PJ Cummins, G Giffen, JJ Lyons, S Morris, WL Murdoch, JW Trumble
4: GJ Bonnor, JJ Ferris, WF Giffen, TP Horan, SP Jones, WJ Watson
Cooper Connolly of Australia poses with his new baggy green. Credit: Getty Images
Brettig: Katich presents Connolly with his baggy green
By Daniel Brettig
By dropping Todd Murphy to make room for Cooper Connolly, the Australian selectors have dealt a blow to the Victorian spinner but also to specialist slow bowlers around the country.
Essentially, they have decided that specialist Murphy would add no more value than a trio of part-timers and all-rounders in Connolly, Travis Head and Beau Webster.
Coincidentally, the last time Australia played just three specialist bowlers was on another occasion when they dropped Murphy, at Manchester in 2023, to bring back Cameron Green – a move that did not work. Steve Smith had this to say about Murphy, who took one wicket in the first Test, on match eve.
Cooper Connolly of Australia arrives for day one of the second Test against Sri Lanka. Credit: Getty Images
Connolly set for debut as Murphy axed
The news from Galle is that 21-year-old Cooper Connolly will make his Test debut.
The West Australian, who has played four first-class matches, is set to replace Todd Murphy in Australia’s XI. Murphy took 1-85 in the opening Test.
Big news.
Cooper Connolly at training on Wednesday on the eve of a potential Test debut.Credit: Getty Images
Poll: who wins this Test?
Hello and welcome
G’day cricket fans.
Welcome to our live coverage of the second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Galle.
Let’s be honest… Sri Lanka were absolutely pumped in the first Test. It wasn’t even a contest.
Let’s see if they can put up more of a fight in the second and final fixture at the picturesque Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Mitchell Starc in action during the first Test. Credit: AP
