Man-of-the-match Smith praises Aussie grit
BRISBANE: Australia captain and man-of-the-match Steve Smith praised his team’s character after they saw off some stiff England resistance before trouncing the tourists by 10 wickets on day five of the series-opening Ashes test.
Australia sealed a dominant victory before lunch on Monday, having chased 170 runs without the loss of a single wicket in a blow to England’s pride.
“We had to show some really good character throughout,” Smith said at the post-match presentation.
“Obviously losing the toss, and the wicket was a lot slower than we anticipated it would be. We had to work really hard.
“I thought the bowlers did a terrific job to get them out for 300.”
Smith singled out spinner Nathan Lyon for his contribution to the win.
“Nathan was particularly good. He is going from strength to strength and bowling like a genius.
“He did a terrific job holding up one end. The others got the wickets.”
Smith almost single-handedly pulled his team out of danger with an unbeaten 141 on day three that ensured Australia could mount a charge towards victory in the second innings.
“Hard work at four for 70,” he said. “Had to dig deep and get a big total and put on a few good partnerships. We got ourselves in the lead, bowled well in the second innings, the two boys did a terrific job to get us home.”
England captain Joe Root said Smith had proved the difference and lamented his batsmen’s failure to put a big score on the board.
“For three days, we probably, for the majority of the time, outplayed Australia ... We played some excellent cricket,” Root said. “Unfortunately, when we got into good positions, we didn’t quite capitalise on it.
“If we had done that, it would have been a very different scoreboard.
“There are things we need address and learn from this game.
“I think the most important thing is we stay strong and tight as a group of players and that we continue to keep doing the hard work that we have done throughout the whole trip.
“One thing that stands out as a team we have great character.”
“We have come back from difficult situations, tough days like today and bounced back straight away. That’s the mentality we have to have next week. I have every confidence we can to do so.”
The series heads to Adelaide for the first day-night Ashes test starting Saturday, a quick turnaround for both teams.
All-rounder Moeen Ali bowled with pain after tearing open the skin on his spinning finger, while there was speculation that England’s pace spearhead James Anderson had suffered a strain after he was used sparingly on day three.
Anderson bowled a full complement of 11 overs in Australia’s second innings, however, and Root said both the paceman and Moeen would be fine for Adelaide.
The sting of defeat was spiked with embarrassment after Bancroft revealed that Jonny Bairstow had headbutted him in a “weird” way of greeting when the England players mixed with Western Australia’s team in Perth at the start of the tour.
Smith revealed that the Australian players had sledged Bairstow about the incident on the field on day four and believed that the chatter had caused the England wicketkeeper to throw away his wicket with a poor shot selection on day four.
England coach Trevor Bayliss was disappointed with his team for giving Australia “ammunition” with their off-field partying not long after allrounder Ben Stokes’s arrest in Bristol for alleged assault during a night out. – Reuters