Australia captain for the Sri Lanka Test series Steve Smith is aware of the challenge Sri Lankan pitches pose for batters outside Asia and wants his team to adapt as quickly as it can for whatever surfaces are on offer in the two Tests in Galle.
The Aussies face Sri Lanka in two test matches which will conclude the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. Australia are in the final and can only be knocked out if they lose both games and suffer significant over-rate penalties.
Smith has a decent record in Sri Lanka. He has hit 398 runs in five matches in the island nation at an average of 49.75 with two centuries to his name. "We have spoken about the differences in the surfaces. Last time we came, we played on one that spun from ball one and the other one was pretty flat in the first innings, and then spun a lot in the second innings," Smith said on Tuesday on the eve of the first Test.
"So it's important to have plans for both kinds of surfaces. Then if it is extreme from the outset, then you need to be proactive and follow different methods to score runs. You just have to adapt as quickly as possible to what you get," he added.
Smith has two centuries here, one on his first trip in 2016 and then in 2022. The Aussies failed to pick the spin in 2016 but did better in 2022. Smith had hit 145* at the same venue in 2022 as he was unorthodox and looked for runs, instead of playing to survive.
"I think the game has changed a lot since I first came to the sub-continent," Smith said. "Guys play different shots to put pressure on the bowlers. The game has evolved a lot in the last ten years, and it's good to see some of the shots these guys play to take the game forward."