Steven Smith seemed relaxed and upbeat ahead of Australia’s third Test against Sri Lanka, highlighting the progress his side is making in adopting a more proactive approach on turning tracks
Daniel Brettig in Colombo12-Aug-20162:02
‘We need to play with courage’- Smith
Two days out from the Colombo Test, Steven Smith wanders into the lobby of the team hotel, and grabs a spot at the in-house cafe and bar. As Australia’s captain, he’s carrying the weight of consecutive heavy losses to Sri Lanka, the first of his leadership tenure, and the continuation of a long and increasingly tiresome theme of Asian underachievement.But there is little sense that Smith is letting all this get him grumpy or sullen. He has not, after all, withdrawn to his hotel room. After a few minutes, he is instead joined for a coffee by young batsman Travis Head, here for a Test squad apprenticeship and then the ODI matches that follow. Smith and Head talk jovially and clearly about the game, the older man conversing easily with his junior amid much cricketing gesticulation.This conversation, like Head’s mere presence, is an investment in the future. Knowledge gained in Sri Lanka over the past few weeks is to be used in pursuit of better results in this part of the world next time around, namely India next year. The looming Colombo Test can be seen in a similar light – not as the third Test of the Sri Lanka series, but the first preparatory assignment for the trip to India.”It has been disappointing,” Smith said of the tour thus far. “We have got a lot of work to do to change the way we play in these conditions. Having said that, I thought we made some good strides in the second innings [in Galle]. The way we were proactive in our thinking, the way we went about it.”As long as we can take that into the first innings of this Test match, and try and make it go a for bit longer – I think looking at the wicket it is going to be another tough one to bat on. It looks like it is going to be pretty dry again, and take a fair bit of spin, so if you can bat for a day, I dare say you will put yourself in a reasonable position.”Australian attitudes have changed over the past few weeks, as best demonstrated by the varying words of the vice-captain David Warner in Pallekele and then Colombo. There are variations within the variations provided by Asian conditions, summed up by the contrasts between the pitches of India in 2013, the UAE in 2014 and Sri Lanka in 2016. Smith reckons these surfaces have more in common with those of three years ago than those utilised so well by Pakistan the year after, meaning spinners could not be allowed to settle.”I think it has a little bit,” Smith said of whether his batsmen’s attitudes had shifted. “I think you still have to try and bat time. I guess that is what Test cricket is all about. At the same time, you do need to be proactive in your thinking, finding a way to get off strike, get down the other end and if you are down there, you can’t get out. Or, you shouldn’t get out!”It’s difficult at any time. In Australia we don’t get wickets that do what these wickets do so it’s very foreign. You almost have to reinvent your game to be successful on these surfaces. In Australia, you don’t get balls that are turning like they are here and skidding on, everything’s pretty consistent. So it’s finding a way I guess and getting outside your comfort zone.”It might be about sweeping or coming down the wicket or getting deep in your crease. Sometimes it’s easy to do in the nets and when you get out in the middle there are guys around the bat, there’s the pressure of the game, it’s a whole different ball game. It’s just having the courage and faith to sometimes take a risk you may not take in Australia and different ways of thinking to get around different situations.”That thinking extends beyond the batsmen to the bowlers, and particularly the spinners. Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland have had to adapt almost as much, from Australian overspin to Asian under-cutters. Another parched surface at the SSC ground means both will get another chance to work on their methods, and Smith has been buoyed by Holland’s progress in a short space of time.”I was watching him bowling [at training],” he said. “In Australia, he’s got quite nice shape on the ball. He gets over it and gets good drop. He’s dropped his arm path a little bit since being here. It’s hard to do just before you play your first Test, when you only come in a few days before the game when you weren’t originally here.”He didn’t have a great deal of time to find the right way to bowl in these conditions and having watched him, he’s certainly dropped his arm down a little bit and he’s getting around the ball which I think is crucial for these conditions. It looks like the seam he’s presenting looks a lot harder to play.”An hour or so later, Smith has moved to another table in the cafe, joined this time by two more senior tour members in Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh. The chatter is jovial again, the attitude that of learning. This tour has shown that Smith the captain can handle the emotions and problems of defeat; Colombo will show how much his team has learned from it.