Smith looks for evidence of Asian progress

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 He has not, after all, withdrawn to his hotel room.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 …

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