David Warner has described Englishman Graeme Swann’s questioning of Steve Smith’s batting technique as “bizarre”.
Smith has averaged 102 in the past year, in a sublime run of form that has propelled him to the top of the ICC’s Test batting rankings and into the prime No.3 batting spot for Australia.
But former England offspinner Swann has questioned whether Smith’s unorthodox methods can thrive against the swinging ball during the Ashes series in England starting next month.
And he insisted Smith didn’t strike fear into the England side like former tormentors Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist did.
“I still don’t think he (Smith) has got a great technique,” Swann said. “He must have surprised himself, as well as everyone else, with his output.”
Australian opener Warner was dismissive of Swann’s words and was confident Smith would be likewise.
“It’s actually quite bizarre,” Warner told Sky Sports Radio from England.
“I want to keep quiet, but we go back to the (2013) Ashes over here, and there were a couple of funny comments.
“A couple of their players when we were out there (on the field), saying he wouldn’t make the first Test at the Gabba.
“But look now he’s the best batsman in the world.
“It’s quite funny how they come out and have these remarks.
“If they want to make statements like that in the media, good luck to them because Smudge is not a person who reads the media, he probably wouldn’t care anyway.
“He’s in the form of his career, and I personally think the best is yet to come.”
Australian skipper Michael Clarke was also quick to laugh off Swann’s comments as a standard pre-Ashes swipe.
“I’m sure he’s probably just trying to get under the skin of a few of the players,” Clarke said.
“It’s not what you say – it’s what you do. We’ll find out in five Test matches time if Steve Smith’s good enough to have success over here.”
rooboy
Guest
“I want to keep quiet", said Warner, unconvincingly.
JimmyB
Guest
Fair enough. As I said, we're definitely in the phoney war stage.
Jo M
Guest
To be fair to Warner, he was doing a radio interview and at the end of it they asked him what he thought about Swann's comments. He just laughed and said it was bizarre, that was pretty much it.
JimmyB
Guest
I said he has an unusual technique, which he does. He relies on his eye more than most top class batsmen and I disagree that his technique lends itself to playing the swinging ball, but we'll see soon enough. I expect him to go well because he's in such a rich vein of form, but when he has a dip in form, which all players do, we might find he looks very dodgy at the crease.
Jameswm
Guest
Nah. On first glance it looks unorthodox. But at impact, his stance is perfectly balanced, slightly open to help on-side play, and most of all his head is still. It's actually a good technique, and he watches the ball and plays late. I think he's about as good a batsman to combat the swinging ball as we have. You don't get to that level without being able to cop it. Water off a duck's back.
JimmyB
Guest
It's a pretty innocuous observation from Swann which actually has some validity to it. Smith does have an unusual technique and if it were to be exposed, it's likely to happen in swinging conditions. That being said, Smith has such a good eye and is in such good form that he's probably going to have a very productive Ashes. Still, I'm not sure that the comment warranted the offence taken, but we are clearly in the phoney war stage of the Ashes cycle so any comment is going to be siezed upon and spun. What isn't a surprise is that it was Warner who had something to say about it.