After dominating bowlers in all forms of the game for a span of 18 months, things have gone sour for Australia’s captain Steven Smith in no time whatsoever. Smith, who began his year by leading Australia to a 4-1 series victory over India at home, was defeated 2-1 in an away ODI series against New Zealand. The high of a tri-series win in the Caribbean was present, but the drubbing inflicted upon his side in the test series against Sri Lanka was a massive blow.
After being given a second string squad for the tour of South Africa, Smith would have fancied his chances. However, the series turned out to be a complete nightmare for him, as the Aussies were whitewashed 5-0 ruthlessly by the hosts. With several former Australian legends demanding Smith’s resignation, the New South Wales batsman has stated that he will carry on as the skipper.
“I’ve never played in a one-day series where we’ve lost all five games. It’s been a difficult task. We’ve been outplayed. But the group has stuck together well. We’re always looking at ways we can improve. We just haven’t been able to go out there and do the business. We’ve had a pretty inexperienced side, to be fair,” Smith said.
Focusing on the need to test the fringe players, Smith said, “It is an opportunity to see some younger guys.” “I think with the schedule these days and the amount we play, it’s impossible particularly for fast bowlers to sustain bowling at good pace for long periods of time.”We’ve chosen to give Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood a rest for this series. It’s given an opportunity for a few younger guys to come in and try and impress. It’s been a very tough series for everyone, but I’m sure they’ll learn a lot out of it.”
While speaking about the game last evening, Smith added that the Australians didn’t have any substantial partnership, which led to their downfall. “We just haven’t been able to put enough partnerships together,” Smith said. “We’ve had guys who have had starts and not been able to go on with it. Having said that, Davey was magnificent today. To score 170 out of our 290 was remarkable. The rest of us weren’t good enough,” he concluded.