SMITH SO FAST TO PLAY DOWN QUICKS

Australia v New Zealand Edgbaston, starts 10.30am

BIRTHDAY BOY Steve Smith has revealed he won’t unleash all four of his giant quick bowlers on New Zealand in today’s rematch of the last World Cup final. The Aussie skipper (below) finally has the raw pace of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson and Josh Hazlewood all fit at the same time – and fans can’t wait to see them terrorise batsmen together. But it would appear that they might have to wait until the Ashes to see them all fly, with all-rounders John Hastings and Marcus Stoinis set to crash the selection party for the Group B match in Birmingham. “I don’t think we’ll end up going with the four big quicks,” said Smith. “We’ve got a couple of options there as all-rounders. “They’re all fit and bowling well l and ready to go, but it’s hard to fit four big, fast bowlers into one line-up. It has been a challenge for our batsmen in the nets, though.” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (above) hopes opener Martin Guptill can make up for the retirement of Brendon McCullum in taking the game to their rivals. “Having Brendon was fortunate, but players move on and Martin is now our best white-ball player,” said Williamson. “He is destructive. Hopefully, he can continue that.”