Sri Lanka arrived in Australia yesterday, preparing to face a new look Australia without three of their most successful players in Warne, McGrath and Langer. Australia havn’t played a test match since humiliating us out there last winter, so there has been plenty of time for certain players to step up and place themselves in the hunt for a space.

On the face of it, the Australia side won’t look too odd. The players that will come in will be well known to the international scene, either through the odd test match, or the one day scene that we’ve seen a lot of this year. However, when they step out on the field, the balance will look different, and the team won’t have quite the same ruthlessness.

McGrath has been one of the best bowlers ever for Australia, but in recent years players such as Stuart Clark and Shaun Tait have come to the fore. They may not be exactly the same type of bowlers, but Clark in particular is a damn good bowler and will have no problems taking the new ball. Langer will be missed at the top of the order with his often battling displays whilst Hayden battered the ball down the other end, but Australia have good batsmen in abundance. Brad Hodge should get the call into the side, and he has scored runs for fun in state and international cricket already. So not looking too bad so far then…

Then we get to the player Australia will miss the most – the highest test match wicket taker himself, Shane Warne. Any team losing their star player will have a period of adjustment, and this could be where Sri Lanka take the most advantage in the test matches. Sri Lanka will still have their star in Murali, so don’t expect the pitches to be big turners (not that it ever matters to Murali!), but who will Ponting throw the ball to when he needs a wicket and the ball is getting older? Maybe Macgill will play, maybe they’ll just rely on Clarke and Symonds, who knows. But it’ll be a strange time for them pulling on the baggy green without Warney being there. He’ll be busy with his new job!