Sri Lanka will host Australia in a two-match Test series starting in Galle next week. Sri Lankan fans have traditionally enjoyed playing against one of the best teams in the world, the Australians, but the results have often gone in the visitors’ favour.

One of Sri Lanka’s best performances came in 2016 when the Australians, led by Steven Smith, turned white – they will lead in the absence of regular first-team captain Pat Cummins.

In 2016, Sri Lanka, who were bowled out for 117 in the first innings of the first Test, recorded a memorable victory thanks to a sensational innings from Kusal Mendis (176).

While Mendis and current captain Dhananjaya de Silva led the way with the bat in 2016, the damage with the ball was done by Sri Lanka’s most successful left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath – a role now filled by Prabath Jayasuriya, who has made a brilliant start to his Test career in 2022, taking 12 wickets on debut against the same opposition.

Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are considered the backbone of the Australian batting line-up, but in the last year or two, Travis Head has become their match-winner, especially in difficult conditions. His batting was particularly impressive against the strong Indian team, as he always tries to take the game away from his opponents with aggressive batting.

Jayasuriya played better than Head when they last met, but the left-arm spinner will bowl to a completely different animal when they meet in Galle next week.

Head being a left-arm batsman should make things a little easier for him, and with Dilruwan Perera having retired and Ramesh Mendis clearly out of the picture, Sri Lanka may have to worry about their off-spinners.