Sri Lanka embark for Australia in the next fortnight with confidence restored following their emphatic victory in the final one-day international against England.
Despite having already lost the series, captain Mahela Jayawardene is convinced the 107-run victory at the Premadasa Stadium will give his side the jolt required to arrive in Australia with spirits high.
Out-played in the three previous matches by an improving England side, Sri Lanka bounced back strongly with man of the match Dilhara Fernando claiming six for 27 as the tourists lost seven wickets for 15 runs.
It is that kind of performance which Jayawardene knows they will need to repeat if they are to compete during a two-Test series and eight one-day internationals against India and Australia before returning for a three-Test home series against England prior to Christmas.
"We knew we had this in ourselves and we know we are a very good side so it's good that we're off to Australia in 10 days' time and it was a very good boost for us to go with a win," said Jayawardene.
"It was a good start (to the series) and we finished well but we played some really ordinary cricket in between - it was well below par, especially for our standards at home.
"That's something we really want to work at, but I was quite happy with a lot of individual performances. Batsmen should have taken more responsibility in this tournament with the way we played."
Sri Lanka's batting, for so long the strength of their side, was continually undermined by England's attack and they were dismissed for less than 220 in three of the five matches in the series.
They recorded only five half-centuries during the series with Chamara Silva's 70 during Saturday's victory being their highest individual score in the five matches.
It is a record which Jayawardene knows is not good enough if they are to compete against Australia, who beat them convincingly in May's World Cup final in Barbados, at both Test and one-day level.
"What we're going to get in Australia will be totally different," explained Jayawardene. "We've got two warm-up games before the first Test and that's something for us to work on.
"We've got two or three weeks before the first Test match so we've got ample time to get back into things.
"This is what cricket is all about. If you've had a bad period you have to make sure you learn from your mistakes - that's what being a professional cricketer is all about these days.
"You don't have that much time to think about what went wrong, we have to get back into things straight away."
Jayawardene also believes the forthcoming home Test series against England, which starts in Kandy on December 1, may also be dominated by bowlers and will be an indication of the improvements seamers have made to their games around the world.
"The tracks will be much better, but a lot of fast bowlers around the world have improved a lot," he added. "They've got a lot of different variations.
"They realise that if they are to survive in these kind of conditions they have to come up with different tactics and they have improved."
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