Smith is crucial: Stoinis

ALLROUNDER Marcus Stoinis has urged critics to look beyond the numbers when assessing Steve Smith’s T20 value as Australia prepares to complete a clean sweep of the Sri Lanka white-ball series at the MCG on Sunday.

Smith’s position in the Australian T20 team has come under scrutiny in the past six months after a quiet World Cup, slower scoring rates and the added insult of being left unsold at the IPL mega auction having once been the competition’s $2m golden child.

But Stoinis said there was no such debate among the players, who were all aware ofthe star’s ability to execute any role specific to the situation allowing the top order to attack the game fearlessly.

“It gives people confidence that we’ve got arguably the best player of our generation there to mop things up . . . if things don’t go to plan,” he said.