Four years ago Australia turned up at the Super Six stage without a point to their credit. They had lost to New Zealand and Pakistan and, as Steve Waugh admitted, were wondering whether it was possible to get into the semi-finals. It was a matter of winning all their games if they were to qualify.This time they have swept the opposition aside as if brushing crumbs off an untidy table top and go into the Super Sixes with the knowledge that they feel it is easy pickings.Their confidence can’t be much higher but, if one was expecting humility, forget it. There was not a jot of sympathy for the vanquished hosts, South Africa as the Aussies followed their practice of putting in the boot where possible and give the opposition a good clout around the ears to match. That the opposition was the last side to beat them was one of those statistical facts to be glossed over.At Ricky Ponting’s briefing today, there was a matter of underlining the new ball tactics — ‘‘We plan to hit them hard with the new ball and they’ll know they have been in a battle’’, he said. ‘‘We have a lot ahead of us and while losing Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) is a blow, we also have the talent to recover from his loss.’’All good rhetoric while admitting, almost by the way, that Andrew Symonds was out of the game with a groin injury. His replacement is the all-rounder Ian Harvey who has done little enough this tournament. But the Aussies are good at making such comments. In the short term it means very little.At least, however, Ponting agreed that the batting effort against England was a bit on the sloppy side and would ‘‘work as a wake up call.to remind us that we can lose.’’Sri Lanka’s offering was very much low-key although, as you can understand, Sanath Jayasuriya is bothered by the form of Dilhara Fernando and Pulasthi Gunaratne who have failed to support Chaminda Vaas, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. At some stage it is going to create a few problems, but just who is going to fill the role of both is a matter for the selectors. One suggestion has been Prabath Nissanka.Jayasuriya is also pragmatic enough to acknowledge that Sri Lanka have no problems whether they are playing a day or a day/night game. Yet you can also not help wondering why the day/night problems have arisen at this tournament. There are no such qualms about playing under lights at Premadasa Stadium in steamy Colombo where there is also a spicy, sensual air about the nightlife.What is important is putting a big total on the board and the way Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva are starting to strike form it will be interesting to see how the Australians seek to handle the new ball attack. Most likely it will be Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee with Andy Bichel and Harvey as the support crew and Brad Hogg as a likely alternative.At least the Centurion surface should produce a similar run-feast to that of the India/Pakistan game last Saturday. Just how much extra firepower the Australians have depends on whether the tactic to bowl first, as seems likely, is the better option. The pitch is likely to flatten out in the second innings of a limited overs match and unless there is rain, it is going to remain that way.
