KEY POINTS:
Accusations, counter-accusations, court hearings, bouncers, centuries, fluffed catches and rain-outs. We seem to have had it all in the Australian cricket season so far - but for the freshly-arrived Sri Lankan side, today marks the beginning of a new campaign down under.
Sri Lanka play their first game in the triangular Commonwealth Bank one-day series when they take on India at the Gabba in Brisbane later today, weather permitting.
They have already been in Australia once this summer - for two tests in mid-November. Ricky Ponting's side cruised to victory in those two matches, but it's in the one-day version of the game that Sri Lanka shines.
And the well-known names - almost unpronouncable to some - are back in the Sri Lanka lineup.
Jayawardene, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Dilshan, Vaas, Muralitharan. The label "exciting" is almost an understatement, for these guys.
Only the name of Aravinda de Silva, who made such an impression on local crowds when he played the 1996-7 season for Auckland, seems to be missing.
Kumar Sangakkara has headed the ICC rankings as a batsman, just as Muttiah Muralitharan has achieved that same recognition as a bowler.
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team were looking to copy India and take the attack to Australia on their own turf during the series, according to an AFP report this morning.
Jayawardene told media it's important to block out all the distractions when facing a side like the omnipotent Australians - which he said India had managed to do effectively over the last two tests of the summer.
The series had threated to end in chaos after allegations of racial taunts involving Andrew Symonds of Australia and Indian star Harbhajan Singh during an ill-tempered 2nd Test in Sydney.
If Australia fail to make the finals, the Sri Lankans will overtake them at the top of the one-day rankings.
There's nothing much to separate India and Sri Lanka as they prepare to meet in their first encounter this evening (NZ time). Sri Lanka are the World Cup runners-up while India are the world Twenty20 champions.
Sri Lanka were given a boost yesterday when scans cleared veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya of a jaw injury after he was hit in the face while batting against Tasmania in a tour match.
As if there hasn't been enough controversy already this summer, we look certain for more shenanigans over the next few weeks, whenever the ball is tossed to Sri Lankan spin bowler Muttiah Muralitheran.
His bowling action created an administrative furore a few seasons back, when umpire Darryl Hair repeatedly no-balled the unorthadox spinner, for allegedly "chucking".
Australian crowds quickly got on the back of the diminutive spinner, booing him during his bowling spells and making 'no-ball' gestures from their seats on the terraces.
It remains to be seen whether the passing of time has mellowed the attitudes of boisterous Aussie cricket fans towards Murali.
Maybe it hasn't - an egg was thrown at Muralitheran from a passing car during the tourists' stay in Hobart.
"He's had a lot worse than that thrown at him in the past", joked Jayawardene, laughing off the incident as harmless.
Australia, India and Sri Lanka will each play eight preliminary matches before the best-of-three finals in Sydney (March 2), Brisbane (March 4) and Adelaide (March 7, if required).
Australia is about to throw its famed triangular cricket series - known for many seasons as the VB Series - onto the scrapheap after almost 30 years.
The problem is that while matches involving the host side draw huge crowds and big tv ratings, the matches featuring the other two teams traditionally play out in front of near-empty stadiums.
From 2009, the three-way series will be replaced by a pair of smaller series, each of which pits the Australians against a visiting side.
The first match in the current triangular series, between the hosts and India, at the Gabba, was abandoned on Sunday.
Teams for today
India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma.
Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan.
