Australian team need talkative players: Steve Smith
Sep 19, 2016 at 6:26 PM
Australian captain, Steve Smith wants his team to follow the tradition of Australian cricket as they are quite a mellowed team compared to their predecessors.
With the likes of Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, and Shane Watson announcing retirement, many of the players who can sledge have been replaced by calmer cricketers. Peter Nevill is hardly a Haddin in terms of vocal encouragement or sledging an opposition team.
Meanwhile, Smith is proud of vice-captain David Warner as under his captaincy Australia did well in T20. Smith urged the team to be loud during the match, as that will result in better fielding and catching.
Talking about David Warner, Smith said, “I thought his energy was magnificent throughout those games and looking forward that’s the sort of energy we want from him and all of the other senior players.
“We’ve got a pretty quiet group and we need that sort of energy come South Africa and the summer as well. I thought in the Test series in Sri Lanka we lacked a fair bit of energy in the field and that probably cost us at times.
“We put down a few crucial chances and in the grand scheme of things that could have made a difference.
“It’s difficult. We’ve got some pretty quiet characters, so even if it’s not making noise verbally it might be just about having a bit more presence and the old Australian way of puffing your chest out and making your presence felt for the quieter guys. “It’s trying to do that, get into the game that way and try to provide some sort of energy that way.”
Speaking about sledging and banter, Smith rued the way his departure from the tour was handled, as it led to plenty of criticism from the media, other international skippers and fans.
Smith following the Test series humiliation lost the first two ODIs so he handed over the captaincy to David Warner and departed for Australia. He prepared for South Africa series , and he wished CA had made the news public long before they did, as it looked like he was fleeing a sinking ship after losing the Tests.
Smith further added, “For me, it was just about getting the messaging across and I think we could have got the messaging across a fair bit better. We knew a fair way out that I was going to leave after the second one-day game.
“The fact we only brought it out the day before probably shocked a few people, so in future, if this sort of thing pops up and someone’s having a rest … it’s about getting it out a little bit earlier.”