Sri Lanka v Australia, 2016

Test matches (3): Sri Lanka 3, Australia 0
One-day internationals (5): Sri Lanka 1, Australia 4
Twenty20 internationals (2): Sri Lanka 0, Australia 2

A day before the series began, Dave Richardson, the ICC's chief executive, arrived in Kandy to hand the Test Championship mace to Steve Smith. At the last minute, it was decided the presentation would take place away from the media - when the master of ceremonies arrived at the Australian team hotel, he was told he had nothing to do. The reason was that Sri Lanka Cricket were worried a public occasion would be demoralising, and underline the gulf between Smith's men at No. 1, and the young home team at No. 7.

Little more than three weeks later, those concerns appeared ludicrous. Australia could not cope with a skilful and varied spin attack, nor mount cogent support for their excellent spearhead Mitchell Starc, and received a 3-0 hiding. By the end of the Test series, the SLC top brass had gone from low profile to ubiquitous, and remained so during the limited-overs matches (even though Australia won). Cameras regularly found Thilanga Sumathipala, the SLC president, sitting in his box, and there were plenty of guest commentary appearances by administrative luminaries. A series that started as a secret had become a big-ticket item.

As much as anything, this was thanks to Australian frailty. They had arrived with a veneer of confidence after an undefeated Test summer at home and in New Zealand. But after their batsmen failed to exploit Sri Lanka's cheap dismissal on the first day of the series, that veneer cracked. The tour became another chapter in the litany of recent Australian underperformance in Asia. A whitewash here made it nine defeats in a row across three series, dating back to early 2013, when a side led by Michael Clarke lost 4-0 in India. While that tour was infamous for internal strife and the homework affair, supposedly happier teams touring the UAE (2-0 to Pakistan in late 2014) and now Sri Lanka fared no better.

Of the three, this was perhaps the most humiliating: India and Pakistan had fielded teams with far more experience, while Sri Lanka had floundered in recent series, losing first in New Zealand, then in England. But their assuredness grew exponentially once Australia's unfamiliarity with the conditions, their opponents - Lakshan Sandakan and Kusal Mendis in particular - and the pitches, became clear. There were traces of paranoia: the tourists felt the surfaces had been made to order, and Rod Marsh, the chairman of selectors, invited the Australian press corps for a personal tour of the pitch on the eve of the Colombo Test. Oddly enough, coach Darren Lehmann said afterwards it had been the best strip of the series. It suggested the demons lay not in the turf but in the mind, as illustrated by the number of Australian batsmen beaten by straight balls from the ageless Rangana Herath.

This is not to downplay Sri Lanka's achievement. Herath had been widely predicted to perform well, but it was the unexpected brilliance of others that made victory possible: Mendis's match-changing innings in Pallekele was of the highest quality; Dilruwan Perera was the dominant spinner on a helpful Galle surface; and Dhananjaya de Silva's partnership with Dinesh Chandimal in Colombo, after Sri Lanka had slipped to 26 for five, showed a resilience the Australians could only envy. The final result was that Smith gave up the Championship mace less than two months after receiving it. The next presentation ceremony, to Pakistan, was a far more public affair.

Match reports for

Tour Match: Sri Lankan XI v Australians at Colombo (PSS), Jul 18-20, 2016
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1st Test: Sri Lanka v Australia at Pallekele, Jul 26-30, 2016
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2nd Test: Sri Lanka v Australia at Galle, Aug 4-6, 2016
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3rd Test: Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (SSC), Aug 13-17, 2016
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1st ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (RPS), Aug 21, 2016
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2nd ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (RPS), Aug 24, 2016
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3rd ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Dambulla, Aug 28, 2016
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4th ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Dambulla, Aug 31, 2016
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5th ODI: Sri Lanka v Australia at Pallekele, Sep 4, 2016
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1st T20I: Sri Lanka v Australia at Pallekele, Sep 6, 2016
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2nd T20I: Sri Lanka v Australia at Colombo (RPS), Sep 9, 2016
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