It's about making sure you have a plan from ball one: Steve Smith

Steve Smith, the Australian captain, is hoping his No.1 ranked team can turnaround their woeful record in the subcontinent during the Test series against Sri Lanka starting in Kandy on Tuesday (July 26).

Australia yesterday received the Test championship mace for being the world's No.1 team after a stellar period under Smith's reign, which has yielded six wins from eight Tests since he took over the captaincy from Michael Clarke late last year.

But Australia have a poor record in the subcontinent, winning just once from 15 Tests since 2008. Smith said Australia would "like to turn that around". "It's about making sure you have a plan from ball one as soon as you get out there and each individual is different," he said on Monday (July 25). "I've seen a lot of the guys practising the sweep shot, guys coming down the wicket, batting deep in the crease and things like that. It's about making sure you're doing it from ball one and not waiting until you're 15 or 20, because you can make a mistake before that."

Smith revealed Australia could bowl first if he won the toss. "The last four Test matches played here, three teams that have won the toss have chosen to bowl first. It's been a little bit tacky on the first morning, that's the information we've been given," Smith said. "That's the general trend of the last four Test matches played, the first morning's been hard work for the batters and then the wicket's got better days two and three, and then started to play a few tricks later in the game."

Steve O'Keefe, the left-arm spinner, will play alongside offspinner Nathan Lyon after taking 10 wickets in the tour match. "I think he has progressed really well," Smith said of O'Keefe. "He's probably bowling as well as I've seen him bowl. In the tour match he bowled beautifully. He bowled the same ball and some skidded on and some spun."

Smith issued a challenge to talented all-rounder Mitch Marsh, who has showed promise with the ball but struggled with the bat at Test level. "He's a big strong lad and he plays best when he's looking to hit the ball," Smith said. "He gets himself in a little bit of trouble, as we've seen in one-day cricket, when he sort of just noodles them around.

"When he looks to hit the ball and he gets the man at long-off back and hit down the ground for one and have that intent to score, he's been pretty successful. So there's no reason why he can't do the same in Test cricket," he added.