Mitchell Marsh feels losing No.1 ranking will hurt the Australians

The Australian team landed in Sri Lanka two weeks prior to the commencement of the Test series but they were still unable to set straight their dismal record in the subcontinent. Having lost the first two Tests the Aussies have already surrendered the Warne-Muralitharan series and is also set to surrender their No1 ranking in Tests. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh expressed his disappointment at the prospect of losing out the No.1 ranking.

"It would be very disappointing if we lost that," he said on Monday. " We were really hoping to try and stretch the gap. We've got an opportunity to win the next Test and that's only what we can do. It means a lot. It's what we strive for, we play to be No. 1 in the world. It's going to hurt everyone."

Australia has been outplayed in each and every department and Sri Lanka looked the far superior side the series. In the first Test, the Aussies were beaten by 106 runs after getting a crucial 1st innings lead and in the 2nd Test at Galle they were thoroughly outplayed in each and every department as they lost by 229 runs. The Aussie batsmen crumbled like a pack of cards as the Lankan spinners wrecked havoc.

Marsh acknowledged the fact that they have been the 2nd best side in the series so far. "We certainly knew Sri Lanka in their own conditions is going to be a tough assignment," he said. " You never come here thinking that you are going to lose the series or will be 2-0 down.

"It has been very disappointing. It is a bit of a shock but we are making no excuses. We have been outplayed by a better team in their own conditions. There's an element of disappointment but we are doing as much as we can to bounce back in the last Test match."

The Australian team will now travel to Colombo for the 3rd and final Test and the all-rounder said the batsmen were looking to take the attacking approach against their spinners to tackle them. "They've been positive from ball one and that helped them throw our spinners off their line and lengths. That's what we tried to do in the second innings of the last Test and hopefully, we can do that in the third Test as well," he said.

Though Marsh has taken only 4 wickets and scored 100 runs in the series so far but he is happy with his bowling and is hoping to contribute with the bat too.

"The ball has been coming out well which is nice. I've got a lot of confidence. I love playing that role for the team," he said. "What has been frustrating is I haven't been able to capitalise on my starts here. I feel I have been batting well. It's just about doing it for a longer period and I really hope that a big score is just around the corner."