Australia have emphatically swatted aside Sri Lanka in their final Test before August’s Ashes — and are now talking up their chances of winning in England for the first time in 18 years.
Sri Lanka, who are at a low ebb after being whitewashed at home by England, were thrashed by 366 runs in Canberra on Monday morning, with Mitchell Starc picking up five for 46 at the end of his mixed summer to seal the 2-0 series win.
The ball-tampering bans on batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner end next month and, after Joe Burns, Travis Head and Kurtis Patterson started to settle in Test cricket with centuries in Canberra, the clouds over Australian cricket might just be lifting.
“I think everyone has, to a degree, got to earn their stripes. Those two have plenty of runs in the bank,” said captain Tim Paine of Smith and Warner.
“I see us going to the Ashes and them having a huge part in us winning the series. That’s how I see how important they are to this team.
“We know how good they are. Hopefully once their bans are up they’ll be welcomed back and they’ll win Test matches like they did beforehand.
“We spoke at the start of the summer about our main priority was to win back the respect of the Australian public and our cricket fans. Sitting here now we’ve gone a long way toward doing that.”
Paine says he has been “keeping a really close eye on” England, who have two more Tests before the Ashes, in St Lucia on Friday then against Ireland at Lord’s after the World Cup in July.
England crashed to a 10-wicket defeat in Antigua on Saturday as West Indies won the Wisden Trophy with a Test to spare.
Australia will prepare for the Ashes by playing Australia A at the Ageas Bowl, while the second half of their domestic Sheffield Shield season will be played with the Dukes ball used in England, to better replicate the conditions they will face this summer.
“I’ve been dreaming about it actually. I’m happy now that we’ve got this out of the way I can put everything into it,” said Paine.
“Every Australian cricketer can’t wait to go and play an Ashes series and particularly in England, it’s something that I’ve certainly dreamed of as a kid, I didn’t think I’d be going over as the captain.”
Mark Wood’s extra pace means he will come into contention for England in St Lucia, while they will have to monitor Ben Foakes’ hand injury. Jonny Bairstow kept wicket in his absence in Antigua.
