Watson warns teammates of Oz’s ``2nd Test syndrome``

Colombo: Australia’s vice-captain Shane Watson has cautioned his teammates about the ‘second Test syndrome’ as they prepare to meet Sri Lanka in Kandy on Thursday.

Australia put on an efficient and confident display despite a poor pitch to post a 125-run victory in Galle, taking a one-nil lead in the three-match series, Fox Sports reports. But Watson sounded a warning note not to read too much into that result, pointing towards Australia``s recent record in second Tests of a series. "Sometimes in previous years, our second Test of a series hasn``t been that good," Watson said. "There``s no doubt we have to step up again even from this game as a batting and bowling unit… Our goal is to win this series," he added. In their past 10 series, Australia have lost five of their second Test matches, with one draw and four wins- and most of those wins are hardly noteworthy, the report said. In fact, in their past 10 series, only the convincing win over South Africa in Durban in 2009 stands out as a second Test performance to be fondly remembered for Australia, it added. Speaking about the sub-standard pitch prepared in Galle for last week``s first Test, into which the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced an inquiry, Watson said: "Two days leading into the (first Test), I had never seen anything like it (the Galle pitch) in my whole career… I had never seen anything so dry, so I knew potentially it would do what it did and it certainly did." Watson, who played both Twenty20 matches and the opening one-day match at Kandy``s Pallekele International Stadium in August, said that he was looking forward to getting back to the venue for the second Test. "I thought the wicket was really nice up there. It certainly turned a bit," the all-rounder noted. "It will be interesting to see what type of wicket they produce. After this one (Galle), you are never really sure what you are going to get. I am sure it will be a little bit more batter friendly (in Kandy) than this one (Galle)," he added. ANI