Steve Smith, the star batsman for Australia, expressed his desire to play a pivotal role for his team in the avidly anticipated Ashes series against archrival England. Notably, the first test is scheduled to commence at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Friday, June 16.
Steve Smith, recalling his previous appearances in the historic series, stated that he intends to get stronger and continue to improve in order to score crucial runs for his team. For those unaware, Australia has not won a series against England on English soil in their previous two meetings.
Notably, the Australians lost the series in 2015 but evened the score in 2019. The Ashes are what the players are ‘judged’ on, according to Steve Smith, so his team will strive to win the series.
“I hope I’m better. I aspire to be a better player because I strive every day to improve. I believe my previous Ashes series at home [in 2017-18, when he averaged 137.40] was also respectable, so I’ve had a couple of decent ones. It would be great to do it again, but I’m just going to go through my routines and complete my duties. “I hope to contribute to the team by scoring some runs,” Steve Smith was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’.
“The Ashes series is how you’re evaluated. The last time we came to this country, we came close to winning, but we settled for a draw. But it’s something I’ve always wanted to accomplish in my career, and I know many of the other guys feel the same way,” he continued.
I believe one of my greatest assets is my ability to adapt on the fly. Steve Smith
He went on to discuss England’s ‘Bazball’ strategy and stated that his greatest asset is his ability to adapt to the game’s demands.
“I’m imagining the various things that they’ll come up with and how I’m likely to approach them. I believe we’ve seen in the past year that they do some interesting things. I believe one of my greatest strengths is my ability to adapt on the fly, comprehend what they’re attempting to do, and solve the problem in the middle. Smith concluded, “I’ll just focus on my game and try to counter everything they throw at me, but we’re definitely anticipating something different.”