The delayed start to the tri-series has thrown things horribly out of gear. This is usually that time of the year when international cricket grinds to a halt in Australia with the last of the best-of-three finals. India's domestic schedule necessitated Cricket Australia to extend the calendar by a month, though in one way it's not such a bad thing because otherwise, the finals themselves would have been a no-show!

It has been absolutely pelting in Sydney, morning sunshine making way for afternoon to mid-evening thunderstorms with almost clockwork precision. Thursday was no exception and much of the same has been predicted for Friday, when Australia and Sri Lanka are scheduled to meet at the SCG for the first of their four league clashes. The Aussies had a little outdoor hit on Thursday morning but by mid-afternoon, the skies opened up with a vengeance and drove the Lankans to an indoor session.

It will be interesting to be a fly on the wall in respective change rooms and listen to the two sides discuss mental sharpness in such situations. Training schedules have been thrown haywire, planning has been sent for a toss because of the prevalent uncertainty. Australia will perhaps welcome the break more than Sri Lanka, given the physical, mental and psychological strains resulting from their dramatic Test series against India, but any cricketer will tell you that he would much rather be playing than watching the rains come down.

Miracle
Should a miracle transpire and a game — however truncated — eventuate, it will not be short on dramatics, and not necessarily because of the history between the two teams.

Relations between Australia and Sri Lanka had been tenuous, at best, when Arjuna Ranatunga was at the helm. The portly skipper never took a backward step, standing up to the collective cricketing and sledging might of the Aussies and giving it back as good as he got. Not surprisingly, he wasn't a much admired man within the Aussie ranks. Ranatunga threatened to walk off the park with his players when Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled for chucking — even when he switched to leg-spin! — by Darrell Hair seven times during the Boxing Day Test in 1995. The Australians should know all about standing up for a mate — ask Andrew Symonds — but Ranatunga's indignation didn't amuse them much.

Things, of course, have changed since. Australians have at various stages taken isolated pot-shots at Muralitharan, but even they have come to understand, eventually, that to keep carping when Murali has gone on to become the world's most successful Test bowler is the ultimate show of lack of grace.

Muralitharan has exemplified the character and courage of a tiny island nation ridden by ethnic strife. His ability to stare every challenge in the eye and come out none the worse for it has rubbed off on a side full of exceptional talent, harnessed brilliantly by Mahela Jayawardene and provided further direction by the experience of Sanath Jayasuriya and Chaminda Vaas, and the exuberance and intelligence of Kumar Sangakkara. Each of them oozes class; at various times, in isolation and in tandem, they have combined to thwart Aussie designs.

Genuine respect
Ricky Ponting has genuine respect for Sri Lanka's capabilities. When he calls them dangerous opponents capable of beating any side in the world, he isn't merely proferring a cliche. In many ways, Sri Lanka pose the same sort of challenge as India because they play a similar brand of cricket.

Australia are more at home in the one-day version tackling method players — the South Africans and the Englishmen — rather than flair-driven opposition. Their most demanding limited-overs fixtures have come against teams like India and Sri Lanka brimful of exceptional natural talent, as opposed to the increasing unpredictability of Pakistan and the West Indies.

Ponting's men will be, and will have to be, on guard for the next four weeks. India's bowlers gave them a mini-scare on Sunday, and Ponting will be relieved to welcome a fit-again Matthew Hayden, not merely at the top of the order but also in the slip cordon where butter fingers have prevailed thus far. If it ain't raining, the SCG won't be a bad place to be in on Friday.

Teams (from):
Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, James Hopes, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Brad Hogg, Stuart Clark.

Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Ishaka Amerasinghe, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Farveez Maharoof, Dilruwan Perera, Chanaka Welegedara, Nuwan Kulasekara.

Umpires: Tony Hill (New Zealand) and Simon Taufel. Third umpire: Peter Parker. Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).