Steve Smith Remains Optimistic About Team’s Comeback Potential in Ashes

Steve Smith is confident about leading Australia in the Ashes opener despite a weakened bowling lineup. He understands the pressure of the first test, where two star pacers will be missing due to injury. This is a big cause of concern for the Australian team, which is looking at the Perth test with a bit of uncertainty.

If the result of the first test doesn’t go Australia’s way, Steve Smith knows how to turn things around in the later stages of the series. He is drawing inspiration from Australia’s series win against India last year, where they also lost the first test. The home side eventually crushed the overconfident Indian team by 3-1, reclaiming the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"I think you want to try and win the first Test match and get yourself ahead of the game, I suppose, or the series. But I think either way we look at last summer, we lost the first Test match and we were able to claw the series back,” said Steve Smith at the pre-match press conference.

He said the team has the belief that the result of the Perth test will not define the whole Ashes outcome. They are ready to take on challenges throughout the series, so winning or losing the first game will not change their plans for the rest of the summer.

"We've got a lot of belief in that change room, if the result doesn't go our way this week, that we can turn it around. We saw it last year. So ideally, we play well this week, and we've got potentially Patty on the table next game. Josh, I don't know, but I think we'll see how this week pans out," said Australia’s stand-in captain, Steve Smith.

He further said that ignoring the outside noise during the series always helps to stay focused. The Australian team understands the challenges and creates its own plans to deal with them. Therefore, they do not pay much attention to criticism, as they always back their game and strategies.

"It's pretty standard. I've been involved in a few now, and there's always so many words said before the series. But for us, I think it's about just ignoring the outside noise, concentrating on our processes, what we do well as a team, and trusting and backing that throughout. It's exciting that we're starting tomorrow. Everyone's been raring to go for the last few days of training and even before that," said Steve Smith.

Taking on the Challenge of England’s Bazball

The star batter of Australia also understands the quality of the English batting lineup. He knows that England batters can shift the momentum of the match quickly if they win back-to-back sessions. This was pretty evident in the last Ashes series when England batters put Australia under pressure by playing aggressively.

Keeping this in view, Smith understands how to deal with this situation. He has urged his team to keep calm during such moments, as they can always come back into the game by executing their plans correctly.

"I think it's just playing the tempo of the game that needs to be played at each certain time. I've no doubt throughout this series, there's going to be periods of the game where a few of their batters get off and they score some runs quickly. And for us, it might be about being a little bit defensive in those moments,” said Steve Smith.

“And then finding the moments where we can attack a bit more and just playing the game, really, that's in front of us, and not letting it drift too far before we implement the plans that need to be played at that certain time. I guess that's as simple as I can put it right now," added Steve Smith.

The first Ashes test is starting from November 21 in Perth. It would be a stern test for the Australian team, which is currently suffering from a few injury setbacks. It is certainly not an ideal start for them, but they are still confident to bring their A-game in the series opener by backing their core skills.