Kirsten made the case that “hard-working” tracks create hard-working cricketers – players who develop the skills and patience to prosper in this format.

“I’m a big fan of making sure that we don’t prepare wickets just for spinners,” Kirsten said. “We want to prepare wickets where we can win games with our seamers as well. That’s how you develop a cricket team – playing in all conditions. I was very impressed with the two wickets that were prepared for the Test series. They were hard-working Test wickets – not straightaway result wickets.

“We wanted our batters to be able to bat. Spinners have to work hard, and seamers are in the game. In the second innings at Galle, our seamers took seven of the ten wickets. I’m very encouraged that our seamers are in the game, and I certainly want to develop that more.”

“He’s a world-class bowler, and he’s been bowling really well this series,” Kirsten said of Asitha. “He’s been on top of his game. But we do need more assistance for him – we can’t just rely on him. That’s something we’re going to spend a lot of time working on is just understanding how we can get 20 wickets and not just rely on spin.”

“This innings, what he was able to achieve on day four and day five, I would say [it] would go down in Sri Lankan Test cricket history as one of the great saves,” Kirsten said. “Forget the fact that he got a hundred in the first innings as well and was able to do this. I think it was a great example to a lot of cricketers in the country as to what you can do at Test match level against a really good bowling attack, following on in a tough situation.

“I think it’s never easy batting at six in a team because often you come in under pressure. What I was encouraged by was when I watched him in the West Indies, I saw that he really thrives in the tough situations. I love the way he plays Test cricket. He thinks about it. He plays to his strengths and he is a smart cricketer. He understands what the bowlers are trying to do to him and then he uses his skill sets to negate that.”