Smith: Bowlers key to series win
CATALYST: FEARSOME FOURSOME PRAISED BY SKIPPER
Prolific Smith is Man-of-the-Series after 4-0 triumph.
Sydney
Captain Steve Smith has praised the collective efforts of his “exceptional” four front-line bowlers for contributing to Australia’s crushing 4-0 Ashes series win over England yesterday.
The Australians rounded off a dominant five-match series with an innings and 123-run hammering of the beleaguered tourists on the final day of the fifth Sydney Test.
Mitchell Starc, John Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon all finished with 20 or more wickets in the series to take 87 in total to dominate the England batsmen.
Despite this, Smith was not prepared to rate them higher than the quartet of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Lyon who bowled Australia to a 5-0 whitewash in the last Ashes series in Australia in 2013/14.
“I think all the bowlers did an exceptional job,” he told reporters.
“Each of our bowlers have over 20 wickets which showed the guys have bowled together as a group, bowled in partnerships, bowled for one another and helped us take the 80-odd wickets we’ve needed to win four Test matches.”
Cummins, who took 4/39 to finish Man-of-the-Match in Sydney, finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 23 at 24.65 and played in all five Tests.
Starc claimed 22 wickets at 23.54, Hazlewood 21 at 25.90 and Lyon 21 at 29.23.
Lyon, the leading all-time Australian off-spinner, has now taken 290 wickets at 31.64 in 74 Tests.
“Nathan has been exceptional with the way he’s bowled and the consistency he’s had has been outstanding,” Smith said.
“For me the moment that changed the whole series was Nathan Lyon’s run out (James Vince on 83) at the Gabba, that was such a huge moment in the series.”
Smith was the undoubted Manof-the-Series with 687 runs including three centuries at 137.40. –