Smith 'angry' with himself over his dismissals

In the aftermath of Australia's 0-3 whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka, captain Steven Smith has spoken about his annoyance at the nature of his dismissals and his frustration that his side had failed to capitalise on good positions.

Smith was twice bowled by Rangana Herath while attempting to cut, and was also stumped twice and trapped lbw once off the same bowler. He admitted to mulling over those dismissals and being dissatisfied with his showing.

"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," Smith wrote in his column for Fox Sports. "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."

Another source of frustration for Smith was his team's inability to build on good positions in the series. In the first Test, Australia had bowled Sri Lanka out for 117 in the first innings, but went on to lose by 106 runs. In the third Test, they had Sri Lanka 26 for 5 on the first morning and then lost by 163 runs.

"We didn't take advantage of the good situations we had with the ball," Smith said. "In the third Test we had Sri Lanka in big trouble on 5 for 26 but we let them off the hook and they went on to score 355. That's not good enough and we know it. We've had opportunities to win Test matches, we just haven't taken them and it's really cost us."

The principal cause of Australia's downfall in the series, though, was the left-arm spin of Herath. He took 28 wickets in the series at 12.75, and Australia's batsmen simply did not seem to have any convincing answers to the questions he repeatedly posed. Expressing relief that Herath would not feature in the ODIs, Smith also revealed that he had an open chat with the Sri Lankan spinner after the series about how he works his magic.

"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."