Batting maestro gives England jitters
Australia head to the Oval hungry to win their first Ashes series in England since 2001 as Steve Smith seeks to inflict further pain on the hosts.
Tim Paine’s men finally saw off stubborn England at Old Trafford on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series with just one match to go, meaning they will retain the urn.
To stand any chance of levelling the series, the World Cup winners will have to find a way to solve the riddle of the immovable Smith, who has scored 671 runs in just five innings at an astonishing average of more than 134.
The former captain, top of the international rankings, has carried his team’s batting with three centuries and two fifties, including a double-century in the win in Manchester, with Marnus Labuschagne the only other batsman who has shown any consistency.
Smith, who returned to Test action in England after completing a 12-month ball-tampering ban, has made his mountain of runs despite missing three innings after he was felled by a Jofra Archer bouncer.
Given a full series, the freakish Smith might well been even closer to Don Bradman’s mark of 974 runs for the most runs ever made in a Test series, set in 1930.
The other key factor for Australia has been the strength of their pace attack, with Josh Hazlewood and world number one Pat Cummins catching the eye with 42 wickets between them.
Joe Root must inspire his troops to one last effort after a gruelling season in which England became world champions in the 50-over format for the first time.
England talisman Ben Stokes was included in an unchanged 13-man squad, but will be assessed to find out whether he is fit to bowl at the Oval.
The England vice-captain did not bowl in Australia’s second innings at Old Trafford following a right shoulder injury sustained in the tourists’ first innings.
If Stokes is unfit to bowl, he is expected to play as a specialist batsman, meaning either Sam Curran or Chris Woakes would come into the side and one of the struggling batsmen would make way. –
Smith has scored 671 runs in just five innings