'Nowhere near where we want to be'

A half-volley from Trent Boult, a boundary driven through cover-point by Adam Voges, a round of applause from the smattering of fans on the grassy banks at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. This was the understated scene in which Australia regained the No.1 Test ranking last month. There was no sign of the mace, the ICC's trophy for the top Test team. There was no novelty cheque for $1 million, Australia's cash prize for finishing the Test year at No.1. All they got was the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Apparently it will all come later, the ICC declaring that Steven Smith "will receive the mace and the cash award on behalf of his team in a ceremony to be held at a later date". Like much about the rankings system, it all seemed fairly arbitrary. Australia will be on top at the annual cut-off date of April 1, hence their cash prize, but how long they stay there is another question. Last time they hit No.1, back in 2014, they spent only three months there.

Still, the very fact that Smith's team has reached the top ranking is a significant achievement. In the space of six months during 2015, Australia's Test team lost to retirement Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers and Ryan Harris. That's 365 Tests, more than 20,000 runs and 500 wickets gone from the dressing room. And yet, since Smith succeeded Clarke as captain after last year's failed Ashes campaign, Australia have not lost a Test.

Arguably, they are yet to be seriously challenged. There were high hopes surrounding New Zealand this summer, but their attack was limp in the Test campaigns both away and at home. Limp would have been an improvement for West Indies, who took only 12 wickets in their three-Test series against Smith's men, compared to Australia's 48. Opposition aside, the signs could not have been much better for Australia this summer.

Usman Khawaja finally established himself as a Test batsman with centuries in four consecutive first innings. Voges, like Khawaja, averaged more than 100 for the season. Smith and David Warner both averaged 70-plus. Joe Burns was a reliable opening replacement for Rogers and averaged 53.23. Mitchell Marsh's bowling improved. Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon continued to pile up wickets. And all the while, coach Darren Lehmann was steering his men through a time of change.

"You wouldn't think you'd lose that many [players], but that happens and you've got to adapt," Lehmann told ESPNcricinfo after the Test series in New Zealand. "I'm really pleased that we took a punt on some players and they've done really well. [National selector] Rod Marsh has been excellent. We cop a lot of criticism as selectors - that's part and parcel of the game and you accept that from the media and the fans - but sometimes you get it right.

"We were lucky enough to pick a good group that can take us forward. Yes we're No.1, but we're a long way away from where we want to get to. We've got the challenge of playing well in Sri Lanka in four months' time. That's a great challenge for the group. If we win that series, that's adaptability. That's becoming better."

Australia have a red-ball lull in the next few months, instead focusing on the World Twenty20 tournament in India in March, then a one-day tri-series involving West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean. But after that, they will be challenged in unfamiliar conditions with a Test series in Sri Lanka, and a Test campaign in India early next year will be a major learning curve. Lehmann conceded that his young side still needed to prove their No.1 credentials over the coming year.

"I think you have to prove it more. But we do win a lot of Test matches over a year," Lehmann said. "We play an aggressive brand that allows you to win Test matches. One-nil is normally not our go. It's really trying to win each and every Test match you play.

"That's important for the fans and how we go about it. We've improved our off-field demeanour, the way we play, the young kids are trying to learn each day and become better. They're becoming great men. We've got better, but we're nowhere near where we want to be."

Of course, sometimes Australia's style leads to them coming spectacularly a cropper, as they did last August at Trent Bridge, where they were skittled for 60 on the first morning of the fourth Ashes Test. All out inside 19 overs. Stuart Broad could do no wrong, taking 8 for 15. Only two men - Clarke and Johnson - reached double figures. It brought back memories of 47 all out against South Africa in Cape Town in 2011.

That was the innings that effectively lost Australia the Ashes, for England won the Test by an innings and took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. It is tempting to view it as a line-in-the-sand moment, given that since then Australia have played nine Tests and, discounting the Sydney wash-out against West Indies, only once have scored less than 480 in their first innings. But Lehmann views their first innings of the Ashes in Cardiff as a greater failure, even though Australia made 308.

"I'm not that worried about the 60 all out," he said. "The conditions were overcast, green wicket, perfect conditions to bowl. I think if we bowl first we bowl them out - maybe not for 60. But I don't think that 60 all-out was a line-in-the-sand moment. I think moreso [the disappointment was] the fact that we'd lost the Ashes.

"And I was probably more disappointed with our first innings at Cardiff. From Warner who got 17 to Rogers' 95, the top seven all got starts and no one went on. Whereas now we're making 500 because blokes are going on with it. It's a tough one. I don't look at the 60 as bad as the 308. If we play well and get 500 in that game, maybe it's 2-1 going into the last Test."

It's an interesting take on things, but it's also a case of coulda, woulda, shoulda. The end result was that the Ashes was lost, and with it a swathe of experience as Clarke led the exits to allow a regeneration of the side. All of a sudden Smith, at 26, is in charge, Australia's youngest Test captain since Kim Hughes. And his age gives him the chance to put his stamp on a long era of Australian cricket.

"He's been magnificent for us as a group," Lehmann said. "His batting has been exceptional, but his leadership and his knowledge of the game, he's well beyond his years. To take the role on at 26 - people say it all the time, it's the second most important role after the prime minister, when you've got to play and run a cricket team.

"He's been great in how he's dealt with the younger players. He knows when to have a firm hand with them. He speaks really well. He'll get better and grow into the role. Tactically he's excellent. And most importantly, he's making runs.

"He's really hands-on with the young players, he goes to dinner with them. He's grown up with them almost. That's a great thing for him. That will stand him in good stead as they get older and play more Test matches. They know exactly where they stand, and his communication skills are exceptional."

Smith's elevation to the captaincy was a mere formality after he had filled in for the injured Clarke during the 2014-15 home summer against India, but the appointment of David Warner as his vice-captain was slightly more controversial. Warner's reputation was in desperate need of rehabilitation after 2013, when he was suspended for punching Joe Root in a Birmingham pub, but Lehmann said Warner had been the perfect backup for Smith.

"He's been brilliant in the role," Lehmann said. "They complement each other really well. David does everything a vice-captain should do behind the scenes, and lets the captain concentrate on the bigger issues. That's important for us.

"They've done a really good job transitioning from Clarke and Haddin to Smith and Warner. It's been exceptional, a really smooth change. That probably helps when you've got the age of the players coming down a little bit. But the way they've handled it - I can't speak highly enough of both of them.

"I think we've developed nicely, and quicker than we probably expected. But that can change quite quickly as well. We're going to have some ups and downs - we know that. So we've got to lessen the downs and make sure we're better prepared than we ever have been each and every day."

To extend their lead at No.1, Australia will need not only to play well at home next summer in Test campaigns against South Africa and Pakistan, two of the strongest Test teams in the world, but also find a way to play well in spinning conditions in Sri Lanka and India. Australian teams have found ways to win in Sri Lanka but India is generally a far tougher challenge.

And the Test rankings are tight. Australia, as the World Cup holders, have a healthy lead at No.1 in the ODI rankings, but in Test cricket South Africa, India and Australia have all held top spot already in 2016. South Africa have been the only team to consistently win away from home in recent years but their peak appears to be behind them, and any team that can adapt to foreign conditions on a vaguely consistent basis will have a case to call themselves the world's best.

Lehmann has always said he is not looking to keep the Australian job for a lengthy period, and a recent bout of deep vein thrombosis will no doubt have given him pause. The departures of two trusted lieutenants in Michael Di Venuto and Craig McDermott are other indicators of the demands of the gig. The next 12 months therefore loom larger than most.

"We've got two subcontinent tours and two tough Test series at home," Lehmann said. "Come this time next year, we'll have a better idea of where we sit. South Africa have been very good for a long period of time away from home. They've still got some quality players.

"I suppose the big one is winning away in the subcontinent. That's the big challenge. We've got to do that in Sri Lanka first, then play well against quality sides at home, and then play well in India. The next four series are pretty big."