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Two days out from the Colombo Test, Steven Smith wanders into the lobby of the team hotel, and grabs a spot at the in-house cafe and bar. As Australias captain, hes carrying the weight of consecutive heavy losses to Sri Lanka, the first of his leadership tenure, and the continuation of a long and increasingly tiresome theme of Asian underachievement.But there is little sense that Smith is letting all this get him grumpy or sullen. He has not, after all, withdrawn to his hotel room. After a few minutes, he is instead joined for a coffee by young batsman Travis Head, here for a Test squad apprenticeship and then the ODI matches that follow. Smith and Head talk jovially and clearly about the game, the older man conversing easily with his junior amid much cricketing gesticulation.This conversation, like Heads mere presence, is an investment in the future. Knowledge gained in Sri Lanka over the past few weeks is to be used in pursuit of better results in this part of the world next time around, namely India next year. The looming Colombo Test can be seen in a similar light - not as the third Test of the Sri Lanka series, but the first preparatory assignment for the trip to India.It has been disappointing, Smith said of the tour thus far. We have got a lot of work to do to change the way we play in these conditions. Having said that, I thought we made some good strides in the second innings [in Galle]. The way we were proactive in our thinking, the way we went about it.As long as we can take that into the first innings of this Test match, and try and make it go a for bit longer - I think looking at the wicket it is going to be another tough one to bat on. It looks like it is going to be pretty dry again, and take a fair bit of spin, so if you can bat for a day, I dare say you will put yourself in a reasonable position.Australian attitudes have changed over the past few weeks, as best demonstrated by the varying words of the vice-captain David Warner in Pallekele and then Colombo. There are variations within the variations provided by Asian conditions, summed up by the contrasts between the pitches of India in 2013, the UAE in 2014 and Sri Lanka in 2016. Smith reckons these surfaces have more in common with those of three years ago than those utilised so well by Pakistan the year after, meaning spinners could not be allowed to settle.I think it has a little bit, Smith said of whether his batsmens attitudes had shifted. I think you still have to try and bat time. I guess that is what Test cricket is all about. At the same time, you do need to be proactive in your thinking, finding a way to get off strike, get down the other end and if you are down there, you cant get out. Or, you shouldnt get out!Its difficult at any time. In Australia we dont get wickets that do what these wickets do so its very foreign. You almost have to reinvent your game to be successful on these surfaces. In Australia, you dont get balls that are turning like they are here and skidding on, everythings pretty consistent. So its finding a way I guess and getting outside your comfort zone.It might be about sweeping or coming down the wicket or getting deep in your crease. Sometimes its easy to do in the nets and when you get out in the middle there are guys around the bat, theres the pressure of the game, its a whole different ball game. Its just having the courage and faith to sometimes take a risk you may not take in Australia and different ways of thinking to get around different situations.That thinking extends beyond the batsmen to the bowlers, and particularly the spinners. Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland have had to adapt almost as much, from Australian overspin to Asian under-cutters. Another parched surface at the SSC ground means both will get another chance to work on their methods, and Smith has been buoyed by Hollands progress in a short space of time.I was watching him bowling [at training], he said. In Australia, hes got quite nice shape on the ball. He gets over it and gets good drop. Hes dropped his arm path a little bit since being here. Its hard to do just before you play your first Test, when you only come in a few days before the game when you werent originally here.He didnt have a great deal of time to find the right way to bowl in these conditions and having watched him, hes certainly dropped his arm down a little bit and hes getting around the ball which I think is crucial for these conditions. It looks like the seam hes presenting looks a lot harder to play.An hour or so later, Smith has moved to another table in the cafe, joined this time by two more senior tour members in Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh. The chatter is jovial again, the attitude that of learning. This tour has shown that Smith the captain can handle the emotions and problems of defeat; Colombo will show how much his team has learned from it. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Kyler-Fackrell-Jersey/ .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Ray-Nitschke-Jersey/ . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/ . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Ahmad-Brooks-Jersey/ . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Kentrell-Brice-Jersey/ . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Yorkshire 257 (Head 54, Barker 4-55) and 78 for 5 (Clarke 4-24) lead Warwickshire 179 (Clarke 50*, Hain 48) by 156 runsScorecard Yorkshire may learn between now and the end of the season how much they have missed Ryan Sidebottom during the seven matches he has been forced to miss because of an ankle injury. In that time they have won only twice and while there have been other factors at play, not least the weather, it is not unreasonable to speculate that, had he been steaming in, business as usual, they might have created a few more opportunities at the very least.The veteran left-armer will be 39 in January, far too old, you would say, to be doing what he does, yet there has been no evidence during the last couple of years that his powers are waning. Last year he finished top of Yorkshires averages with 41 wickets at a stingy 17.9 runs each; in 2014 it was 48 at 18.35.His longevity as a bowler is a wonder, given that he hardly lopes in off a few gentle strides. It would not be Ryan Sidebottom if he were not thundering in, nostrils flaring, that familiar leonine mane adding to the sense of speed and menace. It is a testament to how well he looks after himself, and how well Yorkshire have managed his workload.It was doubtless a little embarrassing, then, that the hairline fracture that has kept him out of action since April had to be put down not to what he did to himself in that match against Warwickshire, but to a mishap incurred subsequently, when he managed to do further damage to the same ankle playing a football game in the dressing room.It goes without saying that the consequences of this could have been pretty depressing. Happily, though, all looks well. Reassuming his customary role as the leader of the Yorkshire attack, he bowled 15 overs, taking the second Warwickshire wicket and the last, either side of the one that happened to be the 400th first-class wicket of his Yorkshire career.It is a relief to be okay, a huge relief, he admitted afterwards.It was one of those stupid accidents that can happen and at this stage of my career, of course there is always that worry in the back of you mind. You wonder whats going to happen, am I going to be back next year?But Yorkshire have looked after me well, Ive played the last three weeks in the seconds to get some bowling under my belt and it is great to be back and to contribute.Weve got seven games left and if I can contribute to the team winning a couple we are going to be there or thereabouts again at the end of the season.There was pride, too, that he had been able to add another milestone, having passed 700 career first-class wickets last season. Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) congratulated me and announced it to all the lads in the dressing room and that was really nice of him, he said.ddddddddddddThe bigger proportion of those Yorkshire wickets - 238 out of 401 now - have come since he returned to his home county from Nottinghamshire in 2011, when the Trent Bridge club decided the three-year contract he wanted was too big a risk. Even he thought it would be the last one he signed. In the event, he has extended it twice, to six years. Moreover, those 238 wickets have come at 20.99 runs each, compared with an overall career average of 23.99. He genuinely has improved with age.The 400th, fittingly, was an important one, prising out Sam Hain on 48 when it seemed the talented 21-year-old right-hander could be set to compensate for the failures of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell by bookending a string of good performances in white-ball cricket with back-to-back Championship hundreds, following on from his one against Hampshire in early July.Trott, miscueing a pull, gave a return catch to Jack Brooks, another whose return from injury may have come at a timely moment, while Bell, on the drive, sliced a ball from Steve Patterson straight to backward point. With Hains demise, Warwickshire were in trouble at 112 for 6.That they managed to scrape their way from there to 179 all out was almost entirely down to Rikki Clarke, another who would argue that age is just a number. At 34 hes just a young un next to Sidebottom but there are a few miles on the clock. Yet as an all-rounder - batsman, bowler and brilliant slip fielder - he still stands above the rest in the county game.He proved it here, first with the unbeaten 50 that kept Warwickshire in the game and then, in a superb evenings work, with four wickets, reducing Yorkshire to 68 for 5. He had Adam Lyth and Travis Head caught by Varun Chopra at first slip and later, in consecutive deliveries, bowled Jack Leaning with a swinging full-length ball and had nightwatchman Patterson leg before.To score an unbeaten 50 and then take four wickets in 15 overs made it an outstanding day for him, Warwickshires director of cricket, Dougie Brown, said. We needed someone to step forward and do something and that is exactly what Rikki did. He has brought us back into the game and far closer than before Yorkshire started their second innings.Yorkshire closed on 78 for 5, their lead just 156. The pitch is dry, there is turn and bounce and what Jeetan Patel does on day three could be as important as Clarkes contribution on day two. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '