Australian spin triad on cards for India

Australia are considering a triad of spinners for next year's tour to India as a result of a Sri Lankan humiliation the coach Darren Lehmann dubbed "reasonably" embarrassing for the national side.

Sifting through the rubble of a campaign that resulted in a third consecutive series whitewash for the Australian side in Asia, Lehmann admitted it was going to be extremely difficult to improve in Asian conditions between now and the 2017 trip for four Tests in India, given the intervening months will be taken up by the home summer.

However he declared that the team taken to India would likely be a radical departure from recent trips away, when the selectors have deemed two spinners sufficient slow-bowling cover. During this tour, even the second seamer Josh Hazlewood has at times looked redundant, with Nathan Lyon often sharing the new ball with Mitchell Starc.

This means the likes of Adam Zampa, Fawad Ahmed, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson will come into calculations for next year's India tour in addition to Lyon, Steve O'Keefe and Jon Holland.

"The difference is we've got to change in the subcontinent. Results will say that with India, UAE and now Sri Lanka," Lehmann said. "We've got to change the way we pick and shape up the squad for a subcontinent [tour]. We have to look at all different angles I suppose. The shape-up of the side, whether you need one quick, two quicks, three quicks, allrounders, and see how we play.

"It certainly hasn't worked the way we've played. We think we've had the right balance but our batters haven't made enough runs. It's pretty simple. When you look at [Sheffield] Shield cricket, it's very hard to determine who's going to be a good player of spin and not on Australian wickets. So for us somehow we've got to find a way."

Amid other conclusions from the tour, which took Australia to nine consecutive Test match defeats in Asia, despite a raft of investments in better performances in the region, Lehmann:

- stated pitches for the IPL, where most of the Australian squad has spent time, did not provide relevant experience for Asian Test matches.

- reiterated his call for the toss to be jettisoned from Test matches, with the away side being given the choice of whether to bat or bowl first.

- argued that Test pitches have become more extreme for visiting teams since Australia's most recent era of Asian successes from 1998 to 2006, with the ball turning sharply from day one. Lehmann did however concede the SSC pitch for the third Test was the best of the series.

- said he would examine his own methods, including how he dealt with the team in times of defeat.

"You always do that anyway," Lehmann said. "We're obviously reviewing every day and at the end of the game. That's a process you always do regardless of the result, whether you win or lose. It is only a game, but still, that hurts. We should be reasonably embarrassed by our performance in this series and that's OK. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not hiding the fact we didn't play well enough and we've got to improve. That's a simple fact. The guys will take that back and actually try to improve. And they've got to improve, simple."

Lehmann had previously stated that any players dropped for poor displays in Sri Lanka would not have that held against them for the home summer. However a hundred by Shaun Marsh at the SSC has complicated matters for Usman Khawaja, Joe Burns and even Adam Voges.

"Adam has been fantastic for us since he has come in," Lehmann said. "You always have those issues when you're an older player. He's got to make every post a winner. We just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of months. We'll just pick the best side we think is going to win in Perth against a quality side like South Africa, whatever that may be and whatever the pitch delivers. We'll pick it appropriately like we normally do."

Having added Travis Head to the squad for the five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches that now roll on through Sri Lanka, Lehmann said the allrounder Mitchell Marsh would be flying home early to rest before the home summer. His role in the side will likely be taken by Moises Henriques. "It's a big summer ahead for him," Lehmann said of Marsh. "We've obviously got some quality allrounders in our one-day squad anyway, so we get a chance to freshen him up and ready to go for South Africa and moving forward."