Following a dominant win over Sri Lanka in the first Test by an innings and 40 runs, Australia captain Tim Paine is desperate to ensure his team do not repeat the mistakes they made against India in the Boxing Day Test when they face the Sri Lankans in the second Test at Canberra.
It will be the final Test of the series and if Australia can secure a victory, they will win their first Test series in over 12 months, with both Paine and head coach Justin Langer placing a firm focus on training and preparation in the build-up to the match.
“We’ve spoken a little bit about our attitude and the way we turn up firstly for our two training sessions here and then tomorrow morning,” Paine said.
“We touched on how we had a great win in Perth against India. I thought we turned up pretty poorly and really flat in Melbourne and started that Test match pretty ordinarily, and then you get a good side like India in front of you and we couldn’t reel them back in.”
“If we do that, start as well as we can tomorrow and put Sri Lanka straight back on the back foot where we finished in Brisbane. That’s been the message.”
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon believes the Australian side is well-placed to make their 1-0 advantage count when the second Test starts tomorrow.
“The training session I’ve just come from is one of the best I’ve had,” Lyon said. “I think our intensity and the way we went about training as a group, a lot of care and looking after each other. The standard is just getting higher and higher.
“We want to be the world’s best in the field. We want to be world class. And that intensity and our training session today, it’s getting there. I believe this training session and what we had today, it’s getting there. We’re on the right path.”
