(UTV | COLOMBO) – Australian captain Pat Cummins, while talking about the protests at the Galle stadium as a result of the economic and political crisis in the island nation, said they’ve got a lot of messages from back home enquiring about their safety.
“The protests yesterday, you couldn’t escape it. We’ve got lots of messages from back home saying, ‘how’s it? Hope you’re okay.’ We’ve felt totally fine,” the captain said.
Pat Cummins speaks about the mass protest that swarmed the Galle ground during the second Test and how the impact of the tour has not been lost on the touring side #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/M6BrlCdpwr
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 12, 2022
Adding that one could hear the protest ‘changed into a party’, Cummins said they spoke to the local staff to understand the grim situation currently prevailing in the country.
“They’re (Sri Lankans) doing it really tough. They’re having one day eating, one day off eating to try and feed their kids. It’s really tough,” he said.
The Australian skipper also said the “point really hit home to them” that they were able to travel around the world, more than just being there to play cricket “in some ways” and see the impact it can have.
On the field, however, it was Sri Lanka that dominated the game riding on Dinesh Chandimal’s maiden double century and Prabath Jayasuriya’s six-wicket haul to level the series 1-1.
The win was also reflected in the World Test Championship rankings as Sri Lanka leapfrogged its neighbors, India and Pakistan, moving on to the third spot as Australia dropped to second place.
Cummins also said that the loss offered lessons to the Aussies for the India tour, that’s tentatively scheduled for February-March 2023.
“I think half our batting lineup and half our bowling lineup hasn’t played a lot over here in the sub-continent. So the experience on these two vastly different wickets, I think we got a lot of lessons out of it to take to India next year.”
He added: “In Australia most likely you only play one spinner, so in the background, you’re trying to prepare a couple of other guys so they get the chance over in India.”