'Embarrassed' Aussies must heed lessons: Lehmann

Darren Lehmann admits his Test team should feel "embarrassed" by their failure against Sri Lanka but denied the unprecedented three-nil whitewash and subsequent loss of the world number one ranking was a setback for their long-term aspirations.

Quick Single: Sri Lanka shambles has larger repercussions

Lehmann, the Bupa Men's Team Coach and member of the four-man national selection panel, admitted that the deposed top-ranked Test side had been roundly outplayed and that some positions within the line-up will come under close scrutiny heading into the coming home summer.

But he stressed that the winless campaign which quadrupled the number of Test victories Sri Lanka has scored over Australia and took Australia's Test record in Asia to a solitary win from 18 matches stretching back more than a decade, would act as an invaluable learning tool.

Which Lehmann agreed will be sorely needed given that his team's next offshore Test assignment is a four-Test series in India in February and March, against an opponent that Australia has defeated just twice at home in their past 14 meetings on the subcontinent.

Quick Single: Sri Lanka spin way to clean sweep

"We should be reasonably embarrassed by our performance in this series, and that's OK," Lehmann said as the dust settled on a series that defied predictions and, at times, credulity, as an untried Sri Lankan team humbled the game's reigning heavyweight.

"There's nothing wrong with that.

"It's not hiding the fact we didn't play well enough and we've got to improve.

"We've under-performed (but) all we're worried about is actually the next match and learning from the mistakes you made.

"A lot of people will say we didn't learn well enough this series and you can't argue with that with the results.

"Is it a setback in terms of results?

"Yes, but the vision going forward is quite clear."

Not quite so translucent is how Lehmann and his fellow selectors will go about fielding an XI for the opening Test of the upcoming home summer against a starkly contrasting opponent in the most different conditions imaginable.

Pace bowler-reliant South Africa on what is usually a fast, bouncy and true pitch at the WACA Ground in Perth, beginning in less than three months on November 3.

Between now and then, a bulk of the likely members of that Test squad will be involved in the five-match ODI Series (and subsequent pair of T20 Internationals) against Sri Lanka that starts on Sunday, and the month-long ODI tour to South Africa that immediately follows.

Although Test allrounder Mitchell Marsh has already been sent home to prepare for the lengthy Australian summer ahead, and it's unlikely overworked fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will see much action beyond the first two ODIs in Colombo.

But players not involved in the white-ball fixtures, such as batters Joe Burns and Adam Voges, will have just one round of Sheffield Shield matches prior to the first Test starting in Perth to mount a case for recall or retention.

And while Lehmann has indicated the axing of Burns and Usman Khawaja from the XI for the final Test against Sri Lanka does not necessarily mean they will remain on the outer come November, their future is made trickier by the need to find a better batting combination for the India series.

Which also places Voges under pressure, by dint of the 36-year-old's seniority despite his extraordinary returns in Australia's middle-order over the previous 10 months.

"Adam has been fantastic for us since he has come in," Lehmann said of the right-hander who averaged more than 100 in Test matches during the previous Australia summer and the subsequent series in New Zealand.

"You always have those issues when you're an older player so he's got to make every post a winner.

"We just have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of months.

"Those guys (Burns and Khawaja) did really well in the (previous Australia) summer and you'd think they'd be able to adapt (to conditions in Asia).

"Some didn't and some did.

"That's a challenge for selectors – to get it right when we travel away from home.

"But we'll just pick the best side we think is going to win in Perth against a quality side like South Africa, whatever that may be and whatever the pitch delivers."

Lehmann absolved his new-ball bowlers, particularly Mitchell Starc whose 24 wickets at 15.16 on his return to Test cricket from ankle surgery was just three shy of the best return by an Australian bowler in a three-match series in Asia (Shane Warne in the 2002 series against Pakistan played in Sri Lanka and Sharjah).

Quick Single: Starc's stunning series by the numbers

And he added that Starc's opening partner Hazlewood and third seamer Marsh also performed creditably in conditions where Sri Lanka's pace bowlers were employed for less than 50 overs across three Tests.

But he was not so glowing in assessment of his spinners, though he acknowledged the untimely hamstring injury suffered by left-arm orthodox Steve O'Keefe in the first Test was unforeseeable.

And that his replacement, fellow left-armer Jon Holland, was thrown into a challenging Test series with no previous international experience.

"Dutchy (Holland), you know, it's an experience for him," Lehmann said. "It's the first time he's played for Australia and he'll be better for the experience.

"And Nathan (Lyon) has to be better, as we've said the last couple of times."

As for the one element of this winless series – the third consecutive occasion in as many years that Australia has ventured to Asia and been whitewashed in Test matches – that Lehmann would most like to change, it is not the personnel or preparation of his team.

Rather it's the lottery of the pre-match coin toss that saw Steve Smith lose all three in this series, thus consigning his team to batting fourth on pitches that become increasingly tough for batters as matches wear on.

Lehmann is a staunch advocate for ditching the coin toss in Test cricket and instead giving the visiting captain the option of batting or bowling first which, in turn, has been suggested as a means of ensuring home teams don't look to doctor their pitches to play to their respective strengths.

"There's certainly different wickets in different conditions, but I still harp on it – no toss," Lehmann said.

"Get rid of the toss.

"That's what I would love to see change in the game.

"But at the end of the day that didn't affect us this series.

"We got beaten by a better side."