Ashes 2023: Confident Smith not fazed by ‘funky’ England

Birmingham : Star Australian batter Steve Smith is not fazed by ‘funky’ things from England and ready for whatever hosts have to throw at him during the upcoming Ashes 2023.

The 34-year old batter has a superb record against England and will likely face some highly-attacking fields and some unusual bowling tactics from a team who have been creative with their strategies under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

“I think we’ve seen over the last 12 months they will do some funky things. They are going to have to try different things at certain times,” said Smith.

“For me, one of my big strengths has been adapting on the go, understanding what they are trying to do and solving the problem out there in the middle. I will just focus on my game and try to counter each thing they come at me with. We are expecting some different stuff, that’s for sure,” he added.

Asked whether his dismissal in the second innings of the ICC World Test Championship Final (where he charged down the wicket to Ravindra Jadeja and sliced a catch into the covers) was a case of him “getting it out of his system” Smith joked that it wasn’t his finest moment.

“It’s a fair call, that’s not my best shot and I thought I’d cashed in a few tickets in the first innings as well. The game was getting to a point where I was trying to take it on a bit more and get that lead up and it didn’t work out for me, but that happens in the game,” he said.

For Smith, turning the tables back on England is part of the plan, and the Aussie number four says that it changes the dynamic slightly to have Moeen Ali playing instead of the injured Jack Leach.

“Leachy’s not here so they don’t have a left-arm spinner, so it’s a bit different, the ball’s spinning in. I’m sure there will be times facing Mo there will be times where we’re a bit more aggressive and times where we bring it back,” the Australian said.

Smith scored centuries in both innings to kick off the last Ashes series in impressive fashion at the same ground. His opening day 144 at Edgbaston in 2019 set the tone for a series in which he scored a phenomenal 774 runs across seven innings.

“I think that Test match is probably my favourite out of my career so far, given the circumstances and the importance of a first Ashes Test, particularly away from home. It would be nice to repeat it again but I’m just going to go out there and go through my routines and do what I need to do, and hopefully I can score some runs and help the team out,” Smith said.

Coming back here I’ve got some wonderful memories and some things I can draw from. However, I know it’s a new series, it’s a new year, a new Ashes, so I can draw on those experiences but not read too much into it.

You go to different grounds around the world that you’ve done well at and you can take some positives out of those and sort of move forward with them, but ultimately it’s another game,” he added.

Smith goes into the first Test at Edgbaston as the second-highest ranked player in the Men’s Test Batting Rankings and one of a trio of Australians at the top of that list.

And the 34-year-old is full of praise for his team-mates Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head.

“I think it’s cool to see us all at the top of the tree. I think those two in particular, the improvements they’ve made over the last four or five years have been exceptional,” said Smith.

“We all do it completely differently, obviously Trav comes out and plays very aggressively and takes the game on. It’s sort of a �see ball, hit ball’ mentality.

Marnus and I probably think our way through situations a little bit differently, but it is cool to see the hard work of those guys pay off and for them to get themselves up there in the rankings” he added.