HOBART — Australia has dropped Mitchell Johnson for the first Test against Sri Lanka and selected just three seamers for the match on what is expected to be a lively wicket at the Bellerive Oval this week. Spinner Nathan Lyon was retained in the side announced by skipper Michael Clarke Thursday, with Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and Ben Hilfenhaus making up the pace bowling unit for the match. Left-armer Johnson, the 2009 ICC Cricketer of the Year, played his first Test in a year in the 309-run defeat to South Africa in Perth last week but was named 12th man for the Hobart Test, which begins Friday. “Obviously a tough selection getting 12 down to 11, especially with the way that Mitchell bowled in Perth, but this is the team we've selected for this Test match,” Clarke to a news conference. “At the end of the day you've got to do what's best for the Australian team, you have to pick the best 11 players to help you win the test match. “It's a nice problem to have when you've got 12 players that really want to play and have performed well, but unfortunately someone has to miss.” Tasmanian Hilfenhaus and Siddle were recalled after being rested for the third Test against the Proteas, while Starc gets his reward for his performance in Perth, where he took 6-154. The Australians face the tourists in two further Tests in Melbourne from Dec. 26 and Sydney from Jan. 3. Sri Lanka has never won a Test in Australia but the host lost on its last visit to Hobart, falling to New Zealand on home soil for the first time in a quarter of a century last year. Sri Lanka is resigned to life without paceman Lasith Malinga in Test matches and do not expect him to make a dramatic return in the series against Australia, captain Mahela Jayawardene said. Jayawardene named a largely unheralded trio of seamers in his team for the first Test and said it was unrealistic to ask the 29-year-old to return to the Test arena. “I think Lasith has made up his mind,” he said. “With the injuries he has had over the last couple of years, I think it's unfair to ask him to come and play test cricket. “He's in our one-day team and Twenty20 team and he's contributing a lot. Do we risk all that? Test cricket is about bowling 20-25 overs, (Australia's) Peter Siddle the other day bowled 60. In Malinga's absence, Nuwan Kulasekara, Chanaka Welegedera and Shaminda Eranga were the trio named to try to make the most of what is expected to be a lively Hobart track. Dimuth Karunaratne was also included as an opener after scoring an unbeaten 60 on debut in the first Test against New Zealand in Galle last month. The 24-year-old lefthander replaces 30-year-old Tharanga Paranavitana. Dilshan, along with Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera, forms a core of veteran Test batsmen who are expected to give Sri Lanka its best chance of grabbing a first ever Test win in Australia. Crowe torches blazer over captain sacking: reports Batting great Martin Crowe has burned his New Zealand Cricket (NZC) blazer in protest at Ross Taylor's sacking as the team captain, reports said Thursday. Crowe, widely hailed as New Zealand's best ever batsman, has been fiercely critical of last week's decision to drop Taylor in favor of Brendon McCullum in an effort to reinvigorate the misfiring Black Caps. The New Zealand Herald reported that Crowe torched his prized blazer last Friday, when news of Taylor's demotion was made public. It said he tweeted “Burnt NZ cricket blazer Dec 7, 2012. RIP”, adding that both the tweet and the account it was sent from had since been deleted. The newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying Crowe destroyed the blazer “so he would never be tempted to wear it again”. It reported the gesture was “the ultimate sign of disgust” from Crowe, a long-time Taylor supporter. — Agencies
