By Mark Richardson New Zealand Test batsman

Richardson was inspired by his captain's example

A drawn series in Sri Lanka strengthens New Zealand's position at number three in the Test rankings, and individually as players I feel we made real strides.

Stephen Fleming led the way with a pile of runs and showed the remainder of our batsmen what professionalism and Test quality is.

I feel we took heed. We showed resilience and aptitude against Muttiah Muralitharan, in my opinion the best bowler of all time, in conditions that suited him down to the ground and above all we learnt we have the skill to adapt.

While our bowling probably lacked penetration and failed to fully capitalise on the amount of runs we were able to eke out, we were competitive.

Often outside New Zealand, our medium fast seamers can get dominated - on this tour they hung in there.

Darryl Tuffey and Jake Oram showed some real fortitude in the way they stuck at it in unhelpful conditions.

I really hope we can build upon these lessons learned in Sri Lanka.

Test match cricket always involves the games within the game

The series ended nil-nil following the expected, yet unnecessary, tame ending to the Kandy Test.

The torrential afternoon downpours leading up to the start of the Test delayed play until very late on the second day effectively reduced the game to a three-dayer.

The dry, crumbly nature of the Kandy strip ensured that no team was able to score heavily and Sri Lanka managed to dismiss us for the second time by tea on the last day.

That gave the players, commentators and crowd the possibility of an exciting last session.

A run chase of 190 from 38 overs, a chance to force a result and breathe some life into the otherwise stalemate series.

Their batting was capable of achieving this and the broken up Kandy strip well capable of producing a batting calamity too.

At one down, they shut up shop and the Test, as in Colombo, died a slow and painful death.

However, this was one of the most enthralling and tense series I have played in.

Daryl Tuffey (above) and Jacob Oram bowled with fortitude

Perhaps you can argue that as servants to the game we have a responsibility to play attractive and result cricket but Test match cricket always involves the games within the game.

These little challenges, not always obvious to the onlooker, are what define a Test cricketer.

The more of these personal battles you can win the better cricketer you become and more likely you are to become a match winner.

We all played and won many of these little battles during the eight days of cricket played.

India in India next is next for us and I really hope we can capitalise on our own personal development.