"Probably one of the worst bowling displays that we've put on for a very long time" : Steve Smith

[MenInG]

"Probably one of the worst bowling displays that we've put on for a very long time" : Steve Smith

Steve Smith speaking in pre-game presser.

Q. Have you picked an 11 for tomorrow?

STEVE SMITH: We haven't yet. We're going to have a look at the conditions in the morning, see what the forecast is like, and we'll decide our final 11 then.

Q. There's a lot of excitement about the potential for the four quicks, but does that seem unlikely at least now? Or do you see them being unleashed sooner rather than later?

STEVE SMITH: I don't think we'll end up going with the four big quicks. We've got a couple of options there as all-rounders. You know, Stoinis did very well in New Zealand in the last series, and Hastings has done very well for us over in these conditions. He's a little bit slower than the others and hits the seam and has some good skills throughout the middle as well.

So we've got a couple of options there. So we probably won't end up going with the four big quicks to begin the series.

Q. Will they each get a go, though? Because everyone's excited to see, obviously Pat comes back, and James Pattinson's back, and Mitch is back from injury. Will they all get a go sometime, or do you stick to the three best ones that's performing best?

STEVE SMITH: I can't make any promises there. It's hard to change a winning side quite often.

I mean, we might make little changes throughout, depending on the conditions and how we're going. So I can't make any promises there.

Q. Can you give us a bit of a feel as to how excited you are about their availability, not just for this tournament but obviously there's a lot of cricket to come. There's a test tour at Bangladesh. There's the Ashes towards the end -- is this something where everyone is excited to get to where they're all available?

STEVE SMITH: Absolutely. A couple of the guys have had pretty long layoffs with injuries and things like that. It's great. They're all fit and bowling well and ready to go. It's hard always to fit four big, fast bowlers into one lineup. But it's great that we've certainly got those options there now.

Q. Can you give us an idea of what they've been like in the nets? And have they been really fast? Because that's the expectation -- they're all four really fast guys if they're really pouring it on?
STEVE SMITH: It's very challenging in the nets, particularly if there's a little bit in the wicket. So it's been a great challenge for our batters. It's always nice facing those kind of guys and being challenged.

So everyone's a little bit quicker in the nets as well. So when you get out in the middle, things seem a little bit easier, and hopefully it shows when we bat tomorrow.

Q. How is Marcus? Obviously he's coming off that shoulder injury? Is he bowling at full capacity?
STEVE SMITH: Yeah, he's actually bowling quite well. He actually felt just as quick as some of the other quicks, to be honest, in the nets.

So, yeah, he's coming along nice; but, yeah, we've probably got a decision to make on our number eight spot tomorrow, whether it's him or John Hastings. So we'll wait and see tomorrow.

Q. Are you worried that New Zealand will draw on its Chappell–Hadlee victory, or is it a different proposition because you weren't playing that series and you're in the ICC?

STEVE SMITH: Look, obviously, we didn't play our best cricket down in New Zealand. And they got on top of us. So, yeah, we've played a lot against each other recently. So both sides know each other really well.

This is obviously a big tournament, one of the two big ICC tournaments. So we're excited to get going. And I'm sure it will be a good clash tomorrow.

Q. Does the fact that Marcus got that 100 against New Zealand, against the team you're playing tomorrow, does that help him; like if he got it against another team, will it be a bit less relevant?

STEVE SMITH: Probably doesn't matter a great deal. It's obviously different conditions here to New Zealand, or slightly different. A little bit similar in ways, I guess. But different ground, different circumstances. A few guys are back in the team. So we'll wait and see what we feel is the best option tomorrow.

Q. It's been mixed results over the past, I guess, 10 to 15 games, with a lot of different guys coming in on the team, sort of some guys have been tried and that sort of thing. Do you feel like this is the opportunity, though, with probably the best possible score available to really reassert Australia's dominance as a one-day team?

STEVE SMITH: Yeah. And we certainly hold ourselves very highly in these tournaments. We've got a very good record in the ICC tournaments over the last, I guess, 10 to 15 years.

So we work our hardest in these tournaments to try and win them. And we've got a good group of players here to do that.

Everyone's been batting particularly well in the nets. The bowlers have been steaming in and been great as well. So everyone's pumped and ready to get started tomorrow.

Q. Are you excited, though, to have the best team available rather than, as they say, across the courts probably the past 12 months there's been a few sort of mix and match sort of sides, are you excited you've got the best players available?

STEVE SMITH: Yeah, it's nice. Yeah, you always want to be playing your best team in big tournaments. So guys have stood up. And I'm excited about the squad we've got here. And as I said, I'm excited to get going tomorrow.

Q. Given you weren't playing Chappell–Hadlee, how much more formidable is your side now that you have returned?

STEVE SMITH: Oh, it's nice to be back, obviously. You never want to miss any series, particularly as the captain of the side.

So, yeah, hopefully I can provide something tomorrow in the game. I'm really excited and looking forward to getting stuck into it. These big tournaments are the ones you want to be involved in and where your big players or your senior players need to step up. So I'm excited about that responsibility as well.

Q. How much of a distraction is the ongoing pay dispute with Cricket Australia?

STEVE SMITH: No, it's been good. The guys have been great. We know that the ACA's handling everything back home. And for us, our focus is on this tournament, and it needs to be, because we're coming up against some good opposition.

It's a very cutthroat tournament. And you need to be switched on the whole time. So the boys are focused on that.

 

[MenInG]

Australia have some firepower - dont think NZ can hold them off.

 

[Bilal7]

I cannot wait to see Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Pattinson play in the same game.

 

[yasir]

I would like to see Strac,HW,Cumins,Patty playing in Ashes, but LOI tournament that too not in AUS is little too much and risky...You need a spinner as well, who plays with 5 specialist bowlers in this day and age?? - For a team who already has quite a few bits and pieces batters...Plus they are not that fit either, why risk all in a single match. I can see only three of the fearsome 4 would be playing in CT at a time...

For viewers, that is an exciting prospects, not one or two but three 90 MPH bowlers, all of them tall too, its too much intimidation, specially in test!!

 

[dauntless]

They have very exciting pacers would love to see them all playing

 

[Rayyman]

Might not watch the whole game, but hope the game is more bowler-friendly.

 

[Hasan123]

I cannot wait to see Pattinson, Cummins, Starc, and Hazelwood play in the same team.

Doesn't seem as though we'll get it in this game.

Hoping for a competitive game but if we get a flat surface expecting the Australians to win .

 

[MenInG]

Q. Obviously got to be pretty disappointing not to get a full game in. What did you make of what you saw?

STEVE SMITH: I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we've put on for a very long time. We bowled both sides of wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies. And it was pretty ordinary, to be honest with you.

Q. Is that rustiness because Mitch and Josh didn't play in the IPL? Is it a bit of that or what do you put that down to?

STEVE SMITH: Let's hope it's rust and let's hope it's gone. Because that was, as I said, it was pretty ordinary. And credit to them they came out quite hard and played quite well up top and got their innings going. And Kane timed his innings beautifully, played really well throughout the middle. But, yeah, we did not bowl well at all. So that's something we need to look at and improve on for the next game.

Q. You didn't think the ball was pulled back a little bit in the last half of the innings?

STEVE SMITH: The last probably 10, 15 overs was pretty good, and that's something that I guess we have done pretty well for a very long time. But if you start well, you certainly make things a hell of a lot easier on yourselves and today we didn't do that.

Q. Was that a concern, particularly about Mitch seeing he hadn't played since the Indian Tour? Were you worried a little bit that they might be a little bit under done?

STEVE SMITH: He's a seasoned campaigner and now he's played a lot of cricket. He's one of the best bowlers in the world. So you've got to back those guys and he's worked incredibly hard the last couple of weeks to get himself in a position where he could play. And he's been putting the ball on the net. Let's hope today was a bit of rust and we can let it go and keep moving forward.

Q. What was the overwhelming sort of feeling when the rain came down? Do you feel like 53-for-3, perhaps got away with one there? Or do you feel like you're still willing it?

STEVE SMITH: We obviously still had some batters in the shed that can certainly play when you need to be chasing a total like that. But probably certainly would have preferred to being in New Zealand's position when we came off the end there. We still had a lot of work to do and they've got a quality bowling attack as well. So we perhaps got away with one there.

Q. Do you feel the top order is a matter of concern before the next match? Or was it just a matter of stops and starts that were affecting you?

STEVE SMITH: Our top order? I don't think it's a big concern. Guys were going pretty hard. We had a pretty big total to chase down. And those can go sort of one or two ways. Those guys can come off, which they do majority of the time. So we're not really worried about that.

Q. With the game on Monday, what do you do with the kind of team selection? Do you kind of give guys that need time in the middle, time in the middle, or do you make changes?

STEVE SMITH: We're going to be trying to win the game. So whatever team we see fit for the next match against Bangladesh at the Oval, we'll look at the conditions there and see what sort of wicket we get. And obviously we've got to win the next game and probably quite well as well. So, yeah, we'll look at that when we get there.

Q. When there's debates about the best bats in the world it's usually surrounding yourself, Kohli, Joe Root and guys like that. Do you think Williamson is quietly doing his own thing and should be up there with you guys?

STEVE SMITH: I think Kane is a magnificent player in all formats of the game. He's a very smart cricketer, he understands his game incredibly well. And he's just -- he's a very good player. And it looks like he's just getting better as well. So, yeah, great player.

Q. With just the selection picking Moises for the first time in a while. Was that a last-minute thing ahead of Chris Lynn or was in your plans all week?

STEVE SMITH: It was probably in our plans. We could have gone a couple of different ways. Moises's bowling was quite handy today as well. He's a good fielder. So, yeah, we went that option. And, yeah, obviously today didn't work out. We're going pretty hard as well just before the rain came down to try and get in front of the game. So it wasn't an ideal sort of scenario. But, yeah, hopefully we can see him score some runs in the next game.

Q. Given the format, it's so short. How difficult does that make it now given the first game's been washed out?

STEVE SMITH: Yeah, it's obviously not ideal for both sides to have a washout. So for us now it's just about making sure that we're playing each game like a final and winning the next two. It's a pretty quick tournament. So you can't really afford too many, well, a washout, really, or a loss. So you've got to turn it around quickly now and control what you can control.

Q. Was there anything for bowlers on this wicket, especially for spinners?

STEVE SMITH: No, I don't think there was any spin according to Heady and Whitey. There wasn't a great deal there. It really didn't swing much for both sides at all. Perhaps because there was a bit of moisture in the ground and the ball was getting a little bit wet at times, but it was a pretty good wicket to be fair.

Q. Is there a strategy change given the way they went after you, the quick bowlers? And obviously the selection of the squad was with the four big quicks and maybe using them as the mainstay of the attack. But given they got whacked around a little bit, do you restrategize a little bit and look more maybe at Moises, (indiscernible), John Hastings, obviously he bowls (indiscernible), maybe bringing in Adam Zampa in that way, given how they went after the quicks today?

STEVE SMITH: As you said, Moises and Hastings bowled a reasonable amount today. So it seemed like almost the slower you bowled, it was a little bit better for these conditions. So, again, that's what we're going to have to look at at The Oval and see what we think our best 11 is for that particular wicket against Bangladesh.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

 

[Abdullah719]

5 June, London– Australia – Steve Smith post-match press conference

Q. It stopped raining at half-past seven, play was scheduled to restart at half-past 8.00. Is that frustrating for you knowing you were 24 balls away but time elapsed where it was clearly not raining?
STEVE SMITH: Yeah, a little bit frustrating obviously not to get a result in. You know, the groundsmen, they perhaps could have shown a bit more urgency being a big tournament. But you know, I think they did the best job they could, and the umpires said it was an 8.30 start, so you've got to do what the umpires say.

Q. How hard was it raining when you first went off, because it didn't appear to be too heavy and at that stage it was just 16 minutes away from getting the 20th over. Did you want to go off? Was it too heavy? What did they say to you?
STEVE SMITH: Of course I didn't want to go off. I was happy to keep batting through the rain. But you know, obviously the umpires are there to make a decision and I think drinks was at the end of that over, which probably didn't help.

You know, had we kept on -- if the game had just carried on, perhaps they may have had a different opinion. But to be fair, it was raining reasonably hard when we did come off, yeah.

Q. Can I just ask, also, not sure whether you know, but do you know why this was a day/night game, because if it was a day game, it would have finished in time. I think it's the only day/night game in the tournament so far.
STEVE SMITH: I wouldn't have a clue. (Laughter).

Q. Any positives; Mitchell Starc's form coming back?
STEVE SMITH: I thought all our bowlers were a lot better today. We hit some good areas early on and challenged the defence of Bangladeshi batsmen. Everyone that bowled I thought did a pretty good job today, and it was nice that we were able to turn things around from the way things went in the first game against New Zealand.

Q. Adam Zampa bowled very well, but you brought him on quite late. What was the reason for that?
STEVE SMITH: Well, they had two left-handers in at one stage batting for awhile, and you know, a lot of the fast bowlers were bowling the other end, because it was quite a strong breeze.

You know, the breeze didn't suit Zampa bowling from the other end, and I thought Head bowled quite well, as well. I was waiting for one of the lefties to get out before I brought him on and I think I brought him on pretty quickly when we had a right-hander in there, and he bowled particularly well then, as well.

Q. Obviously you have a lot of batsmen that haven't had a bat in a long time, and you're going into a game you've got to win on Saturday. I mean, does that make it even harder given you don't know where those guys are at in terms of how they are batting?
STEVE SMITH: I'm sure they will be okay. You know, most of the guys have been playing a lot of cricket, anyway, having been at the IPL and things like that. You know, I think once they get out in the middle, things will just click into place, and yeah, hopefully we can play well on the 10th in Birmingham.

Q. Just back to the rain delays. Can you just sort of try and take us into the dressing room a bit about what you're like and what the team is like sitting there, knowing you've got 16 minutes left and all this is happening; are you looking at the window or trying to take your mind off? What's it like?
STEVE SMITH: Guys are doing all different things. I was actually playing a crossword (Laughter). You know, you can't do much when it's raining, really. You just have to switch off and know that if you do get back on, be ready to be switched on and be ready to go from ball one. Rain delays aren't that much fun to be honest with you.

Q. Related to rain, you've played a lot of cricket for many, many years, park cricket, club cricket, etc. This idea that you can play through rain but you can't restart while it's raining, that playing condition that prevails: Is that something that you think should be considered in the laws of the game and the playing conditions; that we don't have this ridiculous situation where a minimal amount of rain can prevent you from going back on?
STEVE SMITH: I don't know the answer to that. It's been around a long time, I reckon, that rule. That's probably something to take up with the ICC.

Q. Is this result easier to accept after your non-result in the previous match? You said you got away on that one, and now you're on the other end. Is this easier to accept because of the previous game?
STEVE SMITH: Well, I'm not sure about that. Obviously the game the other day, we weren't in a great position to win that game. Having said that, funnier things have happened, and you never know.

So yeah, the other day wasn't great but this game, you know, we were going pretty well, and things were looking good. Disappointing not to get a win but can't do much about the weather and we can't control that. So you know, the result -- the equation is pretty simple for us now.

Q. Are you going to curse the rain? Things going to look difficult for you guys to qualify for the semis.
STEVE SMITH: Say that again?

Q. Are you going to curse the rain?
STEVE SMITH: I think as I said just now, I think it makes the equation pretty simple for us. We have to beat England and I think then it's -- I think then we're through. I haven't really read into all the -- anything else that's happened. I guess we've just got to beat England.