Australia - neither adaptable nor well-rounded

With growing momentum since their Ashes disappointment of a year ago, it felt very much like Australia were headed towards a renaissance after almost a decade of schizophrenic performances. Ever since legendary bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne retired in early 2007 to signal the death knell of Australia's golden era, the team has endured a roller-coaster ride.

Frustratingly, every time they seemed to be moulding into an impregnable powerhouse, Australia would swiftly plummet headlong back to ground. For so long, their fortunes rested on the temperamental talents of paceman Mitchell Johnson and a mishmash of a batting line-up that rarely enjoyed continuity. There were some notable highs but the lows were jarring. It was an inconsistency of performance Australian fans were not used to after continued success during the halcyon days of the Taylor/Waugh/early Ponting years.

Michael Clarke, Australia's polarising captain from 2011-15, was a brilliant tactician but a divisive figure in Australian cricket, both internally and externally, and the team never felt harmonious even in the good times.

Enter Steve Smith, Clarke's successor. Taking the reins aged 26, in the aftermath of Australia's shock Ashes defeat in England last year, Smith's youthfulness was a rarity for an Australian captain but his enthusiasm was hoped to unite the team and spark a renewal.

A slew of stalwarts departed alongside Clarke. Chris Rogers. Brad Haddin. Ryan Harris. Shane Watson. Johnson soon followed too. Armed with a new team to meld, Smith seemingly had the golden touch, as his motley crew quickly climbed to the world's number one Test ranking after comprehensive series victories home and away against New Zealand, along with an expected romp of the hapless West Indies.

Despite stuttering with a World T20 hiccup, you felt something good was percolating within the Australian camp. Smith's team had a bevy of precocious pacemen, possessed a reliable spinner and finally appeared to assemble a cohesive batting line-up. There was genuine expectation and excitement that Australia were on the cusp of becoming a genuine powerhouse once again. This wasn't going to be merely a fleeting purple patch, as occurred teasingly several times during Clarke's reign. Australia were confident they had set themselves up for prolonged success. The right pieces were in place and, importantly, the positive sentiment within the group was palpable.

However, after successive embarrassing defeats to Sri Lanka, arguably two of Australia's most inept and inexcusable losses ever, the goodwill has eroded. Smith's honeymoon period ended with a resounding thump against an unfancied Sri Lankan team labelled as one of the country's worst for decades.

No one could have envisioned this spectacular implosion. The tour of Sri Lanka, against a team humiliated in England and lacking superstar punch, was supposed to be a timely opportunity for Australia to rid their haunting apparitions of the subcontinent. Bigger picture, it was a chance to hone their skills on the dustbowls of Sri Lanka with an eye towards the big ticket tour of India early next year.

Smith, along with coach Darren Lehmann who recently extended his coaching tenure to 2019, knew his early captaincy reign would be defined by the upcoming Indian tour. They never publicly underestimated Sri Lanka, but you felt Australia would use this series as essentially a glorified practice run ahead of the crux Indian series.

Blaming Australia's disintegration on overconfidence would be entirely overlooking their ineptness and shambolic efforts in the opening two Tests. Collectively, they had no clue how to curtail spin. Sri Lanka's slew of eclectic spinners completely bamboozled Australia's batsmen, who collectively looked stuck to the crease like they had been superglued. The batsmen were unable to counter rampant turn nor curtail innocuous deliveries that barely turned. It was like they were under a hex, such was Australia's bewildering batting.

In the lead-up to the series, Smith and his deputy David Warner preached patience and dourness with the bat. Unfortunately, neither set the example with Smith's rash dismissal early on day two in the first Test the catalyst for Australia's ensuing disintegration. After scoring a measly one run in Kandy, Warner compiled breezy knocks of 42 and 41 - Australia's two highest scores of the match - but it was hardly the type of nuggety resolve he needed to demonstrate.

Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja, Australia's revelatory top-order batsmen, were baffled in the unfamiliar terrain and appeared clueless against quality spin on turning decks; it spoke of players unwilling or inability to adapt in different conditions. Compounding the misery, Khawaja had the ignominy of being dismissed twice on the second day in Galle. He made a measly 11 runs.

Mitchell Marsh's selection made a mockery of the trust entrusted by Australia's selectors. The all-rounder has looked totally out of his depth batting at No. 6 in Tests, surviving at this level only because of his encouraging seam bowling. But in these spin-friendly conditions, Marsh only bowled 13 overs for the match and should have been replaced by his brother Shaun Marsh, who averages 80 in Sri Lanka, albeit from only two Tests. The 33-year-old has had an erratic career but should have been used in a bid to strengthen a fragile batting line-up.

Off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who has a stellar record in Australian conditions favouring bounce, continues to struggle in Asia and is simply unable to be the game-changer Australia desperately needs in spinning conditions. Truth be told, Lyon is particularly adept at being a support bowler for the quicks but is less effective when he is entrusted to be the strike force.

Much of Australia's success during this past decade has been through intimidation via hostile bowling. Led by Johnson and his protege Mitchell Starc, Australia's golden moments have come when they fire brimstone, but the low and slow pitches of the subcontinent are Australia's kryptonite. They are unable to exude their swagger and, subsequently, Australia's aura and innate confidence is made redundant.

The one positive in Australia's horrid series has been the emergence of Starc as a genuine superstar Test bowler. A Test best 11-wicket haul in Galle ensured Starc was starting to replicate the type of incomparable bowling he has consistently shown in the coloured clothing. The left-armer looked on the cusp of greatness before breaking down with a severe ankle injury late last year, but now appears set to become the world's best paceman in all formats.

Starc, along with Australia's other talented pacemen, ensures Australia will continue to be highly competitive in favourable conditions abroad and almost unbeatable at home. No doubt, this current calamity will be conveniently forgotten during the upcoming home stretch when they inevitably defeat a stuttering South Africa and Pakistan, who have not won a Test in Australia since 1996.

But soon enough their recurring nightmares of the subcontinent will resurface; earmarked for the tour of India next February, against a better team in even tougher conditions than faced in Sri Lanka. Right now, Australia are essentially flat-track bullies; dominant at home or in suitable conditions complementing their strengths.

They are not a rounded or adaptable team. Despite their false bravado, Australia are flawed and susceptible.

Quite clearly, nothing has changed.