Smith says he'll miss England booing as Australian cricket team embark on overseas tour
Steve Smith says he’ll actually miss the jeers and potshots when he returns to crowdless stadiums in England for Australia’s T20 and one-day international tour next month.
The former captain flew from Sydney to Perth on Sunday before the 21-man squad departed for England – Australia’s first sporting team to embark on an international tour since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
Without a cricket game since 13 March when Australia’s ODI series against New Zealand was abandoned, Smith said he was delighted to just start playing again.
He just wished there were some people there to give him a hard time.
“I do like batting there,” he said of England. “But unfortunately there’s no crowd there to egg me on and give me a bit more motivation.
“Still, there is going to be plenty of eyes on the TV and it is going to be great
to be back out there playing.” English crowds initially taunted Smith as he made his Test return in the 2019 Ashes series following the balltampering scandal in South Africa.
It even prompted the British sports minister to label some reactions as distasteful.
As the series wore on however it veered more towards admiration as Smith went on to compile a phenomenal 774 runs at 110.57.
Smith said he wasn’t too bothered by Australia effectively being two months behind England in terms of match practice with the home side having played international series since July.
Australia will initially quarantine in England and plan on playing up to five internal matches among what is a 21man squad.
The first of three T20s will be played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on 4 September.
The three-game ODI series will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester, starting 10 September.