It was almost ironic that for the past two weeks we have been praying for the rain to stay away and yet today, when we were almost praying for a downpour to put us out of our misery, the rain gods refused to accommodate us. For three hours we watched the grey skies of thunder clouds hang up above without dropping a millimetre of its contents. The umpires and groundsman had both agreed early in the morning that one more drop of rain and the game would have to be abandoned because of the saturation of the outfield.

As the minutes ticked by the chances of a result disintegrated into an improbability beyond doubt. This led to a drastic reduction in everyone's motivation for the final day of this Test. More time was spent watching the motionless skies than thinking about what could have been. Eventually the rain came and like blowing out a candle that was the abrupt end to what has been a tough and frustrating cricket series here in Sri Lanka.

When the Sri Lankan players walked into our changing room to exchange handshakes and best wishes the feeling was one of disappointment all around. It just didn't seem like we had just fought the sort of battle reserved for a three-Test cricket series. In 15 days of possible cricket only five have been played. The weather has been a nightmare to say the least.

In fairness, Sri Lanka have deserved this final result. They are tough opponents who are proud of their beautiful country and their cricket history. They play to win, mixing their determination with exciting natural ability. For years their performances in one-day cricket have been outstanding and now they have shown they are improving in the Test arena.

We now have to go to Zimbabwe and continue playing with the same intensity that we showed in this final Test match. With a big summer ahead of us, our short one-Test tour of Zimbabwe will have to be the perfect lead-up to the next six months of non-stop Test match action. Hopefully it will be the start of a renewed confidence and success by the Australian Test team.

From Colombo, JL