Steve Smith has delivered a verbal blow to England’s rediscovered confidence, saying they won’t “come close” to winning The Ashes based on both teams’ current form.
England’s morale is finally on the up after Alistair Cook’s men won the second Test against West Indies last weekend – their first victory away from home since their series-clinching triumph over India in Kolkata in 2012.
Australia haven’t secured an Ashes series in England for 14 years, but Smith predicted his strong side will have no problem overturning that history when they meet again in July and August.
“I can’t wait to get over there and play another Ashes against England in their conditions,” Smith told ESPN’s Cricinfo.
“After beating them so convincingly in Australia it’s going to be nice to go into their backyard.
“If we continue to play the same way we’ve played over the last 12-18 months, I don’t think they’ll come close to us to be honest.”
Smith was a pivotal part of Australia’s 2013-14 Ashes series win, contributing two centuries as the revitalised home side walloped their northern hemisphere counterparts in a whitewash ruled by Mitchell Johnson’s 37 wickets.
The 25-year-old captain-in-waiting was in the same squad that lost 3-0 to England three months earlier.
Shane Watson was too, and the allrounder said he was hungry for a series win in England after also being a part of the losing 2009 campaign.
“We’ve got a very strong squad that is going over to England, we’ve got depth all the way through all aspects of our game,” he said.
“Also the best part is everyone’s in nearly career-best form at the moment, and there’s a huge hunger in the group because we know we haven’t won over in England for the last three series.
“I’ve been involved in two of those, so there’s a big burning desire inside of me to be involved in an Ashes winning campaign over in England as well.”
Andy
Guest
Really, based on what? One test?
Bearfax
Guest
Sin binned eh.He was always a good sledger
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
LMAO that's priceless. He does have a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way with his bigoted and insular opinions...
Tom from Perth
Guest
Don got banned for one month because some Victorians didn't appreciate his friendly WA parochialism on the footy pages.
JimmyB
Guest
No need to apologise mate, pretty sure Birdy can take it. Has Don gone then?
Bearfax
Guest
Hibernating is he? I can live with that. Maybe he'll metamorphise and come back as a social butterfly
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
Hush now, Bear. Let sleeping dons lie...
Bearfax
Guest
Where's my old sparring mate Don Freo, Tom? Loved a banter with him. Surely he hasnt left us. Come back to us Don.
Armchair Expert
Guest
Correction Cantab, Steve Smith's test debut was a win against Pakistan at Lords.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Be careful Nudge. You'll get banned for showing a bit of cheek! We've already lost Don Freo.
Nudge
Guest
Yeah sorry Jimmy, was probably annoyed with some of Birdys earlier posts
Tom from Perth
Guest
And Starc too, I hope. Do you think Starc will get tests in the Windies?
JimmyB
Guest
Not rubbing it in are you Nudge?! ;)
Nudge
Guest
Yeah would have been pretty tough for you as a Pom to watch that last series Birdy,not so much for the fact that you lost 5-0 but more so that your team put up the flag half way through the second day of the first test. And then of course a few guys quitting mid tour, and then having to watch poor old Anderson, Trott, Swann, and Broad bat with there knees knocking together. Ouch
Birdy
Guest
Although, it was a painful ashes for a pom to watch, CW, I had a little smile at that. Botham has a reputation even in England for being a bit of k**b. Slight mitigation for him, though, is that I suspect when asked for his prediction he was having a slight dig at McGrath who tipped the Aussies to win every one of the last 5 series 5-0 (although he was right twice).
Tom from Perth
Guest
:)
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
It was such a defensive move by England to bring back Trott and it has backfired spectacularly - 72 runs at 12 and now his career is done and dusted. Meanwhile, Lyth (or whoever replaces him) now has to find his feet opposed to NZ's brilliant new ball attack before being thrown to the wolves against Johnson and Harris.
CW
Guest
SP. The look on Botham's face when asked about the 5-0 whitewash was priceless. Is the first time in my life I have seen him lost for words.
CW
Guest
Birdy. You were right about out appalling performance in London. Both on the sporting stage and off. It was embarassing knowing they were Aussies and representing our nation. Luckily those problems have been addressed. They should not happen again. I believe the major problem was social media and mobile phones. Understand all tweeting and use of mobiles will not be allowed while in performance mode in the future.
Birdy
Guest
Gee Tom, sorry mate that I rushed my post and didn't think to correct my grammar. However, semi-colons are used to separate items in a list where there already commas used. Therefore, if there was misuse it was very minor. Seriously, though, do us all a favour and learn to put a hyphen and capital letter in un-Australian.