The Australian cricket team toured Sri Lanka from 6 August to 20 September 2011.

Four uncapped players had been named in the Australian Test squad;[1] Shaun Marsh, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon.

[2] During the test series, a five-year old kid going by the name Sharujan Shanmuganathan caught the attention of viewers when his free-flowing, elegant cover drive became a talking point as it was captured by one of the cameramen during the course of the test match.

[3] Sharujan was only five-years-old when he received recognition for playing cover drives, and commentator Tony Greig, who was named as one of the commentators for the test match, reportedly spotted him playing at the grass bank of the Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground.

Ponting's wife, Rianna, gave birth to the couple's second child, and he returned to Australia to witness the event.