Australia want to set same tone as Ashes 2013-14, says Steve Smith

Steve Smith will lead Australia in the upcoming Ashes series against England. (PTI Photo)

Steve Smith has decided what plan he is going to follow against England in the first Test which begin November 22. The Australian captain wants England to remember the affect the home team’s fast bowlers had when they visited last time in 2013-14.

England were humilated 5-0 in the Ashes series led by pace bowling of Mitchell Johnson and principled bowling of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle. England were unable to contest the battle on and off the cricket field.

Smith said that first Test will be very important and Australia need to set the tone, referring to the 2013 series. He added that England should have negativity as they face home bowlers.

“First Test match is going to be really important, we need to set the tone again and hopefully get them on a similar path to what we did in 2013,” Smith said. “A few players were out here for that tour, and hopefully we can get them thinking the same way, open a few of those scars up as such, get them thinking ‘oh not this again’ and that kind of thought process.

“I know Trevor [Bayliss, England’s coach] very well and he’ll ensure they’re very attacking and those kinds of things. We just need to stick to our guns and ensure we prepare really well and make sure we’re doing the basic stuff really well out in the middle.”

Smith was also critical of his team’s performance in recent past and said that the middle order needs to improve the outcome for better results of the team. “We’ve had a lot of collapses in the last couple of years,” he said. “I think in our last 15 games we’ve had 14 collapses or something like that.

“We can’t afford to do that this summer and six and seven are a place where we’ll need some rebuilding if those sorts of things happen and it’s going to be a valuable spot if guys there are getting runs for us. It’ll make a big difference, so let’s hope that is the case.”

Ashes can another challenging series for Australia who played a stressful series against India in March. Personally for Smith as well, that series drained him both mentally and physically. He is now looking forward to the Ashes series refreshed.

“Whatever the next demand is, whether it’s four-day Tests or whatever, we have to just get on with it and ensure that we’re doing everything we can to keep Test cricket alive. Right now I think five-day Tests are still working and going really well, but you never know what the future holds. We just have to be willing to adapt and do whatever we need to do.”

Smith was talking from new book The Journey, where he shares the goals as captain of the national team, the future as 2019 World Cup approaches and the challenges for Test cricket. He was hopeful that cricketers will adapt to keep Test cricket especially after the inaugural Test Championships.