SYDNEY :Steve Smith cut a relaxed figure when he named the Australia team for the opening clash in his ninth and possibly final Ashes series on Thursday, a far cry from the perpetual angst that used to be his hallmark at the crease.
An injury to Pat Cummins means Smith will captain his country in a stand-in capacity for the seventh time since losing the permanent job in 2018 for his part in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.
Smith will undoubtedly face jibes over that incident from the travelling England fans during the series, but on Thursday he calmly made a lengthy joke at the expense of former England spinner Monty Panesar in answer to the one question about it.
“I’m pretty chilled,” the 36-year-old told reporters. “I think I’ve learned a lot over my journey. And yeah, the couple of times that I’ve stood in for Paddy, I’ve tried to be pretty relaxed and let the game play.
“And, obviously, I’ve got to do it my own way out there and have my own style. But I’m a lot more relaxed these days, chilled and let the guys go about their work.”
He described the loss of frontline quicks Cummins and Josh Hazlewood as “unfortunate” but an exciting opportunity for their replacements Scott Boland and debutant Brendan Doggett.
He suggested that losing the first test in the series would not be the end of the world, and that there might be times when Australia would have to be defensive in the face of England’s “bazball” onslaught.
There was no chance that he would be predicting any results, he said, nor engaging in any of the verbal battles that always surround the Ashes.
“I’ve been involved in a few now, and there’s always so many words said before the series,” he added.
“But for us, 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 … (it) all starts tomorrow.”
For Australia, Smith’s runs will be just as important as his leadership and he said he had felt “really good” with bat in hand in recent weeks.
That will not have been music to the ears of the visitors given that Smith has scored 3,417 runs at an average of 56.01 with 12 centuries in his 37 tests against England.
The days when he was ranked the top batter in the world are long gone, but two centuries against India and two against Sri Lanka over the last year were a reminder that he remains a dangerous opponent.
“He just gets runs against us, doesn’t he? That seems to be a constant,” England captain Ben Stokes said on Thursday.
“Serious player, has been for a very long time. Yeah, him and him and Joe Root, neck-and-neck, in my opinion, in terms of the greatest batters of this generation.”
