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No harsher picture illustrates the magnitude of the change in the Australian male test team than that captured in Sri Lankan Kandy Hill just 30 months ago.
It was a discreet and private presentation of the mbad of the ICC test championship to then captain Captain Steve Smith, confirming that Australia had reached the nominal deadline at the top of the world rankings and would receive the trophy, as well as his purse of 1 million US dollars. .
It was reported that the ceremony had taken place at the hotel's tour team rather than on the ground in Pallekele, nearby, where the opening match of the three-game series against Sri Lanka was about to start, as local administrators did not approve of the scandal. visitors.
Or maybe it was because they foresaw well that it would be only a temporary honor.
In the span of a few weeks, Sri Lanka had gone to a 3-0 whitewash on land tailored to its bowling qualities. Australia has been duly designated by India as the best test team in the world.
A ranking they have not found since, during a period of growing turmoil in Australian cricket.
The changes in personnel that Australia has seen for less than three years since being humiliated by Rangana Herath's left arm, Sri Lanka's retired genius, symbolize this climate of unrest.
Smith said that huge losses have been made to the way Australian teams have been chosen.
He could not know that these winds would claim both his vice-captain David Warner and him.
But the fact that Australia has chosen only two players who took part in the last test of this tour in Sri Lanka in 2016 – Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon – in the match-series Domain, which begins Thursday at the Gabba, says a lot.
Colombo and Smith, Warner, as well as Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Jon Holland and Josh Hazlewood were injured.
In the 27 tests that followed the final of this series at SSC Ground in Colombo, Australian breeders handed out new Baggy Green Caps to a dozen newbies.
There is a good chance the beginners' club will grow by another three on Thursday afternoon, and Jhye Richardson, Kurtis Patterson and Will Pucovski are more likely to make their debut in the Test arena.
During the same period, Sri Lanka – often synonymous with selective stream – introduced 11 players to the cricket test and could possibly line up more than half of the team (up to six players) who took the field to complete home home sweep July 2016.
Such a rate of change among Australian testers is unusual, though barely unprecedented.
After all, it's been just three months since the last trio of new Baggy Greens were handed out on the first day of a test – against Pakistan in Dubai last October, when Aaron Finch, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne were added to roll of honor.
But it's hard to remember a time when there was so much room to win that even two days before the test match, it was impossible to draw a realistic portrait of the top six Australian.
The fact that there are four potential players among the seven specialists on the 14-man squad – Marcus Harris, Matthew Renshaw, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja – only highlights the permutations evoked by the selectors before the draw. Thursday.
Then there is the appointment of two newly appointed vice captains – Pat Cummins and Head – to cover the loss of previous Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh deputies, further highlighting how short the tester's mandate has become.
It is unclear whether Australia's starting lineup will be announced before Thursday, with Paine scheduled to hold a pre-match press conference tomorrow afternoon.
Regardless of the last iteration of the Test formation, Labuschagne claims it is a friendly competition rather than a fierce rivalry between these eight batters competing for six places in the XI final to face Sri Lanka .
"There are good competitions and it's always good to have a team when it's competitive because that means you have to keep performing to stay in the team," said today. Labuichagne.
"I would not say it's a strange feeling, it's a good thing to have that competitiveness around the team.
"We are all happy for each other and we all want to be able to play, but at the end of the day, there are only eleven who can go to the field.
"If you're in this eleven or not, you still have a job to do to contribute to the team and make sure the team wins."
Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka
Australia: Tim Paine (c / w), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chand, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickicka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, is making his way Chameera, Kasun Rajitha
January 24-28: First test, Gabba (D / N)
February 1st to 5th: Second try, Canberra
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