Betfair Official Blog

Jayawardene takes on Ponting in his own backyard

Click here to view market

Leather-on-willow fanatic Andrew Hughes compares the batting and leadership skills of Ponting and Jayawardene ahead of the 1st Test

When Sri Lanka take on Australia in Thursday's First Test, Ricky Ponting and Mahela Jayawardene will face one another as Test captains for the first time. Among the many intriguing markets on Betfair for this game is the first innings match-up between the two captains. Considering that Jayawardene is in no sort of form, has yet to show he can cope with these faster pitches and on top of all that, is troubled by a sore heel, the (1.75) about Ricky Ponting is very tempting, indeed, I would back him as low as (1.5).

Whilst Jayawardene is one of the best batsmen around at the moment, there is no doubt that Ponting is the better of the two. Averages don't lie and a quick check using the excellent facility on the Cricinfo (http://stats.cricinfo.com/guru) that whilst Jayawardene is averaging an excellent 49, Ponting's average has been climbing remorselessly throughout his career, to its current mark of 59.29. If he continues at the same rate, he will go down as one of the greatest batsmen in history and is in with a good chance of overhauling Brian Lara's record as top Test run scorer.

They offer a marked contrast in styles. Ponting is all about attack, pummelling the ball all around the wicket, most notably with his devastating pull shot. Sometimes vulnerable early on, his higher percentage of lbw dismissals is testament to an occasional lack of foot movement early in an innings. He has also shown a surprising vulnerability to high-class finger spin, which explains his bafflingly low average of 12 in India, compared to an overall overseas average of 51.

The upright Jayawardene 's style is built on a sound defence and an unflappable temperament. Technically correct, he plays elegantly through the offside, square of the wicket and through the covers. Though he hooks well, like many of his compatriots he is not entirely comfortable facing the short ball on fast pitches and despite his battling century to save the Lords Test last year, he is clearly more comfortable in Sri Lankan conditions, where he averages 62, compared to 37 overseas.

Comparing their captaincy ability is harder. Ponting has had the benefit of taking over one of the greatest teams ever to play the game. After some initial success, he came under real pressure in 2005, with defeats to Bangladesh and the loss of the Ashes, but since then, he has led his side to an astonishing 16 Test wins out of 17 matches and his win percentage of 77% is now the highest for any post-war Australian captain, surpassing his predecessors, Taylor, Waugh and Border.

Jayawardene got his captaincy opportunity as stand-in for the injured Atapattu. On the tour of England he was burdened with a young and inexperienced team and hindered by selectoral meddling. But his calm demeanour gave his team confidence and since then he seems to have instilled some fighting spirit in them, particularly overseas. In between ruthlessly crushing Bangladesh home and away, they have fought back to gain creditable draws in England and New Zealand and also beaten South Africa at home. Jayawardene has handled his young bowlers well and has demonstrated some innovative thinking in his field setting.

That said, he will have his work cut out in Australia, both as captain and batsman. In their recent defeat to Queensland, there were worrying signs that the Sri Lankan batsmen, Jayawardene included, were struggling to adjust to the faster batting conditions and the loss of Kumar Sangakkara with a hamstring injury is a huge blow. All the value on Australia for the series win has gone, but it is still worth backing them at (1.52) to win the First Test. For top batsman, look no further than Mike Hussey, at (5.7) and for top bowler, I would suggest a couple of outsiders, Mitchell Johnson (7.4) who knows the Gabba well and Lasith Malinga (11.0) who showed signs that he was enjoying the extra bounce against Queensland.

• Cricket
• Test previews