No more we could do to prepare: Marsh

Following the shock defeat in the first Test in Kandy, the Australian camp has conceded there’s not much more they can do to better prepare for the challenges presented by the conditions in the subcontinent.

The tourists were again brought undone by spin, this time via the craftiness of veteran Rangana Herath (match figures of 9-103) and the unpredictability of debutant Lakshan Sandakan (7-107).

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Cricket Australia has gone to great lengths to rectify a poor record that has now seen the Test side without a win from their past nine matches in Asia.

Installation of specifically-designed spin pitches at the Bupa National Cricket Centre, a pre-tour acclimatisation trip to Chennai for select players and a carefully planned two-week build-up in Colombo are just some of the measures taken to ensure optimal preparation.

Or so they thought.

"No I don't think there can be," Chairman of Selectors Rod Marsh replied when asked if more resources were needed for subcontinental tours.

"What else can we do really? We send them off to India, we send them to other parts of the world where the ball turns, we played an ‘A’ series in India last year and they batted well against good spin bowling.

"But it gets to a Test match and whether it's the extra pressure of it being a Test match, whether it's the fact that we historically haven't done well on turning pitches on the subcontinent. Whether that plays on their minds I'm not sure.

"But it's a work in progress."

Despite going down by 106 runs in the first of three Test matches, Marsh believes the selection panel picked the best side they possibly could.

The only changed expected for the second Test in Galle is Victorian Jon Holland to replace fellow left-arm finger spinner Steve O’Keefe, who will return home to Australia for scans on his injured hamstring.

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"I don't think we can pick a better team,” Marsh told media at Pallekele Stadium in the aftermath of the upset loss.

"We've got all the people who deserve to be here on numbers.

"People talk about the way we play spin bowling, well there's no doubt about the fact we don't play it as well as the way we play pace bowling in Australia.

"But that's something that's a work in progress, everyone's had the preparation for this tour, we couldn't have done anymore, and we had an opportunity after bowling them out for 117, we only make 200 - unbelievable."

Marsh also defended the decision to select David Warner for the series opener, despite going into the contest with no match practice since breaking a finger on the recent one-day international tour of the Caribbean.

Warner could only manage score of 0 and 1 – the lowest return for an Australian Test opener since Mark Taylor collected a pair of ducks against Pakistan in 1994.

"He wouldn't have played if he wasn't fit enough,” the National Selector said.

"Or we wouldn't have played him. You saw him field. His fielding was outstanding.

"He just missed out with the bat. And that can happen."

The team today travelled to Galle by helicopter as they aim to level the series when the second Test begins on Thursday.