Smith ‘angry’ when he thinks of dismissals
Australia captain Steve Smith is still angry with himself over the ways in which he was dismissed in the Tests against Sri Lanka, especially as he thought he'd figured things out in the nets, only for it to go wrong in the middle.
Smith was one of the better batsmen for Australia, but that's all relative as they struggled mightily against Rangana Herath in particular. He took 28 wickets in the series, which Sri Lanka won three-nil.
Looking ahead to the ODI series, Smith said he still replayed some of his removals in his mind, and got annoyed with himself all over again.
Smith wrote on Fox Sports: "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't replayed my dismissals from this series over and over in my head when I've been alone in my hotel room.
"Looking back, there are several shots that I regret playing. I regret playing a cut shot and getting bowled by Rangana Herath – twice.
"Those ones really hurt me because I'd practised that exact thing in the nets a huge amount in the lead-up to this series.
"I also regret standing on middle and leg stump in the second innings of the first Test, and getting out lbw. If I had been batting on leg stump, I probably would have got my bat in the way, and not been out.
"Those sorts of things make me angry with myself, given how much I've prepared for those scenarios in the nets."
The skipper added that he had a long chat with Herath after the Test series, safe in the knowledge that the veteran bowler would not be playing in the ODIs, much to Smith's relief.
He added: "At least for the one-dayers I know that Herath won't be there – he's retired from ODI cricket. The bloke may be 37-years-old but he's still a real handful as a bowler. I would know – he got me out five times out of six in this series!
"We actually had a drink with the Sri Lankans after the game, and I had a chat to Herath about his bowling tactics. I joked with him that he better stay retired from one-dayers because now I might finally be able to score some runs!
"He was gracious enough to explain little things like how he changes the trajectory of the ball just by adjusting the height of his arm, and how when there's a breeze he puts the shiny side of the ball on the outside to try get the ball to drift.
"I normally wouldn't talk so openly with an opponent like that, but he got me out so often that I needed to try work out what to do! I really appreciated him being so open with me."
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