Smith says Sussex stint shouldn’t be seen as damaging to England
test batter featured for Sussex in their LV= Insurance County Championship game away to Worcestershire last weekend, and will play in the game away to Leicestershire starting tomorrow.
His final game and only appearance at The 1st Central County Ground will come against Glamorgan on Thursday, May 18, versus a side featuring Smith’s fellow international teammate Marnus Labuschagne.
Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said it was an easy decision to bring Smith into the fold and hoped the former Aussie Test Cricket captain would help lead the team to more victories this season.
Farbrace said: “The winning mentality he brings to our group was the most important thing. When we had the opportunity to bring someone of his skill and class and winning mentality into our group, which has won one game a year for the last three years in Championship Cricket, It was really important.
“The second thing is we want him to score runs for us, while he is here and knowing how competitive he is, we know that is going to happen.
“The effect he has already had has been fantastic. This morning, our seamers were running at [Cheteshwar] Pujara in one net and Steve [Smith] in the other. That is fantastic learning already.”
Sussex had faced criticism from some quarters of the English game for giving the Australian team an advantage ahead of the upcoming Ashes.
Critics argue the club are giving Australia's best batsman an opportunity to practise in English conditions ahead of the eagerly-awaited series can only hinder the home team’s chances of regaining the Urn.
However, Smith was quick to point out that he played a lot of cricket in England before for the Baggy Greens. In total, the 34-year-old has featured in 16 test matches on these shores, scoring 1727 and averaging 59.55.
Smith said: “I’ve seen a lot of talk about getting used to conditions and all those sorts of things. You’ve got to remember I've played a lot of cricket in England before. The conditions aren’t new to me.”