Smith taking no short cuts

STEVE SMITH says there will be no let up in his side’s short-pitched attack on England’s tail-enders when the fourth Test gets underway on Boxing Day.

The Aussie skipper (inset) insists there will be no change of tactics, despite criticism that the umpires have failed to protect England’s lower order when the home side have overstepped the mark.

Asked about suggestions his bowlers have broken the laws of the game, Smith said: “It’s a bit over the top.

“No doubt, if they had the kind of pace that our bowlers can generate, they’d probably do the same thing.

“We were going to bowl a lot of short stuff to those guys, much like we did back in 2013.”

Dawid Malan will be a key figure for England as they bid to avoid a whitewash, starting at ® from RODNEY WHITE the MCG in front of what Aussie officials hope will be a record crowd. They are aiming to beat the 93,013 who watched Australia beat New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup Final, and Malan said coach Trevor Bayliss has challenged the side to put on a display worthy of the occasion. “Trevor said, ‘Look, we’ve got 90,000 people to play in front of and we need to stand up and show what good cricketers we are’,” said Malan. “That certainly hit home. We are going to have to perform. But there were others talking about how we desperately wanted to get our pride back. “We need to be aggressive with these guys like they are with us. If you take your foot off the gas with these blokes, they seem to really, really dominate.”