Steve Smith urges his bowlers recreate Ashes form against South Africa

02/18/2018

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After reclaiming the Ashes thanks to their lethal pace attack, Steve Smith has asked his bowlers to ‘go down a similar path’ in the upcoming series against South Africa. Smith also added that a series win in SA would be a sweet revenge for their defeat at home against the Proteas in November 2016.

Australia started the year on a positive note as they completed the 4-0 win against England thereby reclaiming the Ashes. England were completely humiliated by the pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins, as the three managed to pick up 22, 21 and 23 wickets respectively in the series. Australia is now set to face South Africa in a four-match Test series scheduled to start from March 1 and captain Steve Smith has issued a rallying cry asking his pace trio to perform with the same zeal as they did against England.

Smith said on Saturday he expected his bowlers to "go down a similar path" in South Africa, even though the hosts have the firepower to hit back through Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and latest addition Lungi Ngidi.

"There could be some good short-pitched bowling from both sides, to the batters, to the tail, everyone from both sides," said Smith, reported AFP.

"I think it's great. I'm excited by it. You love coming up against the best bowlers around the world. The batters should be looking forward to this series. You love coming up with good pace. I think it's going to be a fantastic series for the viewers to watch."

Smith, who had opted for a rest for the ODI series against England and the T20Is, is now rearing to take the field again revealing that "five or six days ago I wanted to do it again."

Australia have not lost a single Test series while touring South Africa since 1993 which has translated to an unbeaten 7 consecutive series. Smith is aware of Australia’s unbeaten record and asserted that it would be a good challenge for the visitors.

"It means a lot. Coming to South Africa you have the most similar conditions in Australia. This is going to be a good challenge to keep that record up."

Australia were beaten in the first two matches of the Test series when South Africa toured the Aussies in November 2016 and even though the Aussies won the third, it didn't account for too much. Smith believes that a series win next month would be a sweet revenge for their 2016 loss at home to the Proteas.

"It'll be great if we can turn the tide here in South Africa," concluded Smith.

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