Steven Smith leans down the wicket to a Steve OKeefe ball drifting towards leg stump. Australias captain closes the face to whip through the leg side but does so too early, drawing an edge in the direction of slip. It is three days before the start of the first Test against Sri Lanka.As OKeefe celebrates his little victory in the Pallekele nets, Smith chides himself tersely. Thats shit batting, he blurts. Later, he runs past a Nathan Lyon delivery angled across him from round the wicket, and later still cops a blow to the inner thigh from a Mitchell Marsh effort ball that pops off the surface.These moments are apt showings of Australias vulnerability in subcontinental conditions; moments they must avoid to win this series, and next years in India. Smith has preached adaptability since he was formally appointed captain after the loss of the Ashes in England last year. Now he and his team face the first real test of their resolve to do so. Save for a series win over lowly Bangladesh in 2006, Australia have won one of 15 Asian Tests since 2004.Wed like to turn that around, Smith said in Pallekele. I think weve won one game out of our last 15 in the subcontinent. Its about making sure you have a plan from ball one as soon as you get out there and each individual is different. Ive seen a lot of the guys practicing the sweep shot, guys coming down the wicket, batting deep in the crease and things like that. Its about making sure youre doing it from ball one and not waiting until youre 15 or 20, because you can make a mistake before that.So its about doing it from ball one and making sure you have that plan and youre doing it the whole time. I think thats how you have to play in the subcontinent. You have to take different parts of the game, different tempos of the game along with you as well. Therell be times when they want to attack and you might get more scoring options and times when they want to be a bit more defensive. You have to be patient with that at the same time. The guys know what to expect, weve trained really hard being here the past two weeks and were ready to go.It cannot be said that the Australians are underprepared. They have been in Sri Lanka for two weeks, with some players adding further to their acclimatisation by spending time in Chennai beforehand. They have played two tour matches, an internal trial and a comprehensive win over a Sri Lankan invitational side. They have been actively assisted by the advice of Muttiah Muralitharan, to the evident chagrin of the hosts. They have a squad tailored to the conditions, with OKeefe offering a style of bowling not dissimilar to that of Rangana Herath. And they are playing the first Test of the series at Pallekele, which will offer a more equable surface than the spinning top expected in Galle. All bodes well.I think he has always improved, each year hes played he has improved, Smith said of OKeefe. Looking back to the UAE tour [against Pakistan in 2014], we bowled first on both of those occasions and were behind the game quite often. Its always a different game when you get in front of the game and theres a bit of pressure on the batters to score runs and play with guys around the bat and those kinds of things.I guess we never really got in that kind of position so we never saw that side of Stephen. But I think he has progressed really well. Hes probably bowling as well as Ive seen him bowl. In the tour match he bowled beautifully. He bowled the same ball and some skidded on and some spun. Quite similar to Rangana Herath, the way he bowls in these conditions. So if he gets an opportunity, Im sure hell do well. Another important role player will be Marsh, the allrounder who has made a promising start to his Test career without making the runs expected of a No. 6 batsman. Smith is hoping his top order can dig in for the long, substantial innings that can allow Marsh to give free rein to his expansive hitting power later on. Equally, he is looking forward to using Marshs lively fast medium for impactful spells of the kind seen in the recent triangular series final against the West Indies in Barbados last month.Hes a big strong lad and he plays best when hes looking to hit the ball, Smith said. He gets himself in a little bit of trouble, as weve seen in one-day cricket, when he sort of just noodles them around. When he looks to hit the ball and he gets the man at long-off back and hit down the ground for one and have that intent to score, hes been pretty successful. So theres no reason why he cant do the same in Test cricket.There is a second variable to Australias fortunes over the next three Test matches, that of Sri Lankas transitional team. While the conditions will pose challenges for Smiths men, he is also conscious of making sure the visitors assert themselves at the right times. As the worlds No. 1 Test team, they have the capacity to dominate at times, provided they are the right ones.They are in a bit of a transition, as are we in a way, Smith said. Weve had a lot of retirements recently as well. Theyve lost a lot of runs in Mahela and Kumar, they were incredibly experienced players. Angelo [Mathews] is probably the only one now who has played over 50 Tests in their top six. Theyve got a pretty inexperienced line-up and well try to get on top of that as much as we can.As for Smiths own batting, there is something to his style that appears suited to these conditions, as he showed with a series of useful scores on Australias ignoble 2013 tour of India. By match eve he had ironed out those earlier kinks and misjudgments, nailing his drives, cuts and defensive dead bats with far greater surety than a couple days before.I enjoy playing cricket in the subcontinent its always a great challenge, Smith said. The ball generally does something quite regularly in the game, whether its reverse swing or spin. Its a great challenge to try and bat for long periods and get big scores. I havent got a hundred [here] yet so it would be nice to tick that off - this week would be good. Its going to be a tough series but were all looking forward to it, and hopefully I can have some success along the way. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/T-Shirts/ . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/ . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Deion-Sanders-Jersey/ .Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Ra-Shede-Hageman-Jersey/ . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. http://www.falconsrookiestore.com/Falcons-Ricardo-Allen-Jersey/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The nerves were there. Unmistakable. Unavoidable. Standing in the darkened tunnel before entering Rio Olympic Arena on Sunday night, the U.S. womens gymnastics team felt the pressure that comes not from outside expectations but those held within.Then the lights came on.And just like that, the young women in the glittery red-and-blue leotards national team coordinator Martha Karolyi has molded into a global force relaxed.And dominated.On bars. On beam. On vault and floor too. Their not-a-typo score of 185.238 was nearly 10 points better than second-place China through four of the five subdivisions, a preposterous gap in a sport where the difference between first and second is measured in fractions.Its never 100 percent perfect but I think we showed that our gymnastics is of the highest level, Karolyi said.One no opponent is close to reaching. If the U.S. had swapped out its highest score on each event with its lowest, it would still be up by six points.Three-time world champion Simone Biles led the way. Her score of 62.366 was well clear of teammate Aly Raisman. So much for the butterflies in her stomach.I do a very good job at hiding it, Biles said. The team, we just calm it down.Consider it a luxury of being so far beyond the rest of the planet. All five women earned a spot in either the all-around or event finals, or in the case of Biles and Raisman, both.Raisman, a three-time Olympic medalist four years ago, grabbed the second spot in the individual all-around for the Americans by edging reigning Olympic champion Gabby Douglas thanks in part to what Raisman called the best bar routine of my life.Rules limit each country to two gymnasts per event in the all-around and event finals, meaning even though Douglas was third overall, shell miss out on a chance to defend the crown she won in London. Not that she was moping. When Raisman drilled her dismount on beam, Douglas rose from her chair and gave her a hug.A controversial selection to the five-woman team after a so-so performance at Olympic trials, Douglas validated Karolyis choice with steady performances all over, including a bars set that earned her a spot in the individual finals.She said `I believe in you, and you can go out and do it, Douglas said. At the end of the day that means so much ... beccause shes very precise.dddddddddddd It feels good.The top eight teams in qualifying move on to Tuesdays team final, where the U.S. is expected to repeat the gold it won easily in London and give it to Karolyi as a retirement present. Karolyi is stepping away after the games, though shes hardly in a hurry to get there. There are still a few more lessons to teach.My expectations are higher for you than anyone elses, she said. What Im trying to do is get the most out of every single person.No wonder Russian gymnastics star Aliya Mustafina figures everybody is playing for silver.Its going to be really difficult to compete against the American team, Mustafina said through a translator after the Russians survived a sometimes shaky qualifying session. They are unbeatable at the moment.China and Russia both struggled at times on Sunday, beset by mistakes they cant afford to make if they want to make the team finals anything more than a coronation. While each have their strengths, the truth is the U.S. has few weaknesses. The margin for error will be thinner in the three-up, three-count final. Yet after the U.S. went 16 for 16 during an occasionally showstopping 90 minutes, they hardly seem overburdened by the stakes.I think all of our hard work was just to show the world, said Madison Kocian, who put up the top score on uneven bars. I mean were 10 points ahead.Something thats not supposed to happen.Good luck world. Its up to China, Russia, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands to knock the Americans off their throne. How difficult will it be? Consider this: the margin between the U.S. and the Chinese on Sunday was greater than the margin between China and 12th-place Belgium.Romania failed to qualify for the Olympics as a team for the first time in more than 40 years but will have an event finalist after Catalina Ponor finished in the top eight on beam. Uzbekistans Oksana Chusovitina, competing in her record seventh Olympics, reached the vault final after finishing fifth in qualifying.The 41-year-old played coy when asked by her 17-year-old son Alisher if this is her last go-around.Wait and see honey, Chusovitina said with a laugh. Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Cheap Jerseys Online Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Wholesale NFL Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap NFL T-shirts China Jerseys Wholesale Youth NFL Jerseys China Stitched NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Outlet White NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys NFL China Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo ' ' '