Smith: The way Australia went about the Ashes was spectacular
PERTH: Thrilled Australia captain Steve Smith praised his bowlers and savoured an “amazing” feeling as a victorious Ashes captain after his team wrapped up the series 3-0 with a dominant win in the third Test at the Waca yesterday.
Australia thrashed the tourists by an innings and 41 runs before tea to reclaim the urn with two matches to spare.
“Captaining an Ashes-winning side, it’s an amazing feeling,” Smith said after Australia bowled England out for 218.
“So much preparation has gone into this Ashes series. The way we’ve gone about it has been spectacular.
“So many different emotions are coming out right now, I’m that excited.”
Josh Hazlewood grabbed a five-wicket haul in the second innings, with fellow seamer Pat Cummins cleaning up the tail as Australia’s pacemen continued their dominance in the series.
“The bowlers have done a terrific job throughout the whole series ... I thought Josh Hazlewood was magnificent today to get five wickets,” added Smith.
England captain Joe Root was downcast after emulating his predecessor Alastair Cook in surrendering the urn with two games to spare.
“Yeah, it is very difficult to take,” he said.
“They’ve outplayed us in all three games. We’ve got to be better.
“We’ve got to make sure we go to Melbourne and prepare well and put in really good performances there.”
A ruthless trio of pacemen and the medical men propping them up were key to Australia’s Ashes triumph, Smith said.
Australia’s pace dominance was underlined by England’s struggles, the tourists’ four quicks all conceding over 100 runs as Smith’s side declared at a mammoth 662/9 on day four.
“I think here in Australia (the extra pace) certainly makes a difference on the flatter tracks where there isn’t much sideways movement,” Smith told reporters, having won a second Man-of-theMatch award in the series for his brilliant 239.
“That extra air speed can make a big difference and we’ve worked really hard to ensure that we had these three big quicks (Hazlewood, Cummins and Mitchell Starc) on the park and ready for this series.
“A couple of them skipped the one-day series in India (in October) and we knew what was coming up.
“We were preparing for this series and we wanted those big three on the park to do what they’ve done the last three Test matches.” – Reuters