Paine happy to stay unchanged

Test skipper Tim Paine believes Australia's batsmen must overcome a mental barrier and be "relentless" at the crease if they are to break their century-drought this summer.

Not since the 1882-83 season against England has Australia failed to produce one century-maker in a summer featuring more than two Tests.

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That 136-year-old record is in danger of being broken should one of the hosts' batters fail to post triple figures in Canberra's maiden Test, starting tomorrow at Manuka Oval.

The drought was close to being snapped last week in Brisbane, where Travis Head (84) and Marnus Labuschagne (81) got as close to scoring a Test hundred as any teammate this summer.

In fact, Usman Khawaja's epic 141 in Dubai in October represents the only century an Australian has scored since the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney almost 13 months and 11 Tests ago.

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While Paine is confident his batsmen have the technical prowess to post a three-figure score, it's the mental side of the game that is proving the biggest hurdle.

"I think it is in every team … batting and scoring hundreds becomes more mental than it is technical," Paine said today.

"The longer you go without it, the more you want it and the harder you try.

"But at the same time those guys have to concentrate on what they know works and have to be disciplined enough to do it for long enough, and if they are, then they’ll get a hundred this Test.

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"I know one thing, the boys want to score Test hundreds, they're working their backsides off to do it."

While Manuka Oval is yet to host a Test match, the venue has a reputation of producing batter-friendly wickets in the first-class and limited-overs internationals it has held.

But even if the wicket is ideal for batting, Paine says his players must knuckle down for days, not sessions if they are to celebrate a century in the nation's capital.

Paine happy to stay unchanged

"It's about being disciplined enough, all guys have had starts all summer, shown they can score runs at this level, but it's just being able to be relentless and be disciplined for not just two or three hours but disciplined and relentless for a day or two days," he said.

"When guys learn to do that we'll score hundreds, but certainly we talk about it a lot.

"We're working really hard on it from a mental and technical aspect, and sometimes you just need that one to break through the dam wall."

Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka

Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha

First Test: Australia won by an innings and 40 runs

Second Test: February 1-5, Canberra