6 November - Mumbai - Australia player Steve Smith pre-match press conference
[Reporter:]
I just wondered if you could give us a bit of a reflection on your tournament. It strikes me as being quite frustrating. You've made 150, you're averaging 29. You look like you've built foundations but haven't been really able to cash in.
[Steve Smith:]
Yeah, no, it's been a little bit disappointing at times. I've been in the middle of a few partnerships that have helped build a foundation for sure, but yeah, definitely would have liked to have gone on with it a little bit more. I've got in on some tricky surfaces, obviously the first one against India was a tricky one, the South Africa one where I felt like I was batting nicely - questionable sort of LBW and then got a got a good one early I suppose against Sri Lanka. I was batting nicely against Netherlands and then was batting reasonably the other day against England. So yeah, a couple of starts where I would have liked to have gone on with it a little bit more, but it wasn't to be. But I still feel like I'm hitting the ball quite well, so hopefully some runs at the back end of the tournament.
[Reporter:]
Australia have two of the three largest victories in terms of runs, 309 and 275 against Netherlands and Afghanistan respectively. This World Cup has seen a lot of one-sided matches with a lot of big wins. How do you look at it? There have been very few close contests. How do you look at this and is it good for one day cricket and the 50 over format? And what do you read about these kind of wins?
[Steve Smith:]
Honestly, I haven’t paid too much attention to the deficits, it’s just been about playing the games and yeah, we’ve had a couple of big wins which have been nice for us and for us it's just focusing on what we can do out in the middle. We've got a game here tomorrow against Afghanistan who are a dangerous side on their day and we certainly won't be taking them lightly.
[Reporter:]
With that in mind, Afghanistan and also thinking about your next game against Bangladesh, two teams that you just haven't played a whole lot of one-day cricket against over your career, what does that mean from a preparation point of view for you and the team?
[Steve Smith:]
Yeah, I think both sides have some quality spinners in particular, which I think the spinners have had pretty big impacts for most teams in those middle overs and we knew that coming into the World Cup that those middle overs batting is going to be crucial to negate the damage as much as possible, build foundations for the back end and, yeah, it's going to be no different in the next couple of games against some quality spinners.
[Reporter:]
How are Maxwell and Marsh tracking?
[Steve Smith:]
Good question, not sure. Marsh’s here, he's here at training today and Max is here as well so yeah, I assume they're training and whether they're available tomorrow I have no idea.
[Reporter:]
Can I just ask when you do get those two back in terms of one day teams you've played in Steve? That'll be the first time you have a full 15 available. How strong is this 11 compared to other ones you've played in your career.
[Steve Smith:]
You know, I don't want to sort of single out any sort of teams. I think I've played in some really good teams over the years. Obviously the one in 2015 was a very good one when we won the World Cup at home and this is no different. It's a quality side. We've got some good people there, some good individuals, and we're working collectively as a team at the moment after the first two losses we had. So, we're in a good place, we're playing well, and hopefully we can keep that up.
[Reporter:]
Just as a team as well, in a long tournament like this, do you believe that there is this whole thing of peaking at the right time and ticking boxes as you go along? Or do you just go one game at a time and say, we need to get into the semifinals, yes, but we'll still focus on what we're getting out of each game and then just move on.
[Steve Smith:]
Yeah, you do want to be peaking at the right time in the end, but obviously you need to do enough to make the semifinals. I think that'd be the beauty of it if we were able to get there. You know, we had a rough start, we lost two games and we've gradually, I guess, progressed as we've gone along and there's still areas we can work on.
So yeah, tomorrow's a big game for us. I think if we win, we qualify, if that's correct. So yeah, I think you want to be peaking at the right time for sure and the two teams up top are playing really good cricket, in particular India, who beat the second team, South Africa, yesterday pretty convincingly. They're going to be tough to beat, there's no doubt about that. But I think we're playing some good cricket so hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow, get ourselves in there and give ourselves a chance.
[Reporter:]
Just on Marnus, how much is he still buzzing from not his innings but having got the DRS right - I've never seen him being hugged and embraced as much as he was after he got it right.
[Steve Smith:]
He keeps using this saying to me, He thinks I talk a lot of rubbish, but he goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. I think that works for him yesterday, or the day before. But he's got good ears to be fair, he hears a lot of things and he's always confident something's happened so fortunately he was right on this occasion.
[Reporter:]
You spoke about Afghanistan being a dangerous team and they've notched up a few important wins as well. How do you look at their spin threat in particular? Obviously, these conditions here are a flat pitch and obviously might not suit them that much but how do you look at their spin threat in particular?
[Steve Smith:]
No, they're good bowlers and need to be respected at the right times and then we need to be able to put pressure on them at the right times as well. So yeah, playing at Wankhede it's historically a high scoring ground - so no we're going to have to play their spinners well tomorrow, there's no doubt about that. They're very good bowlers, they're smart bowlers and yeah, we're going to play them well tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
In the event that Mitch is available have you been given any indication as to whether he will drop back down the order to four?
[Steve Smith:]
I haven't heard anything the last few days but I assume that's the case as it was before whatever happened and then whatever I can't remember where we were it's all blending together but yeah, I assume that's the case.
[Reporter:]
And just I noticed this may just be you but you were grimacing a little bit as you sat down. Are you okay physically or you're all good?
[Steve Smith:]
I've had a bit of vertigo stuff the last day or so, so it's just been a bit annoying. So, hopefully I can get through training today and be all good. But, yeah, it's not a nice place to be.
[Reporter:]
Is that something you battle with a bit or?
[Steve Smith:]
Occasionally, I've had a few episodes, so I can tell you it's not the funnest space to be in, but yeah, I'll go out and have a hit and hopefully be okay and we'll see how we go.
[Reporter:]
Just maybe a word on Pat Cummins' captaincy so far, you've done a lot of 50 over captaincy yourself but he hasn't necessarily, what have you made of his approach so far?
[Steve Smith:]
I think he's improved as it's sort of gone on, he's got the tempos of the game, he's understanding the pace of the game a lot more and like I said he hasn't done it a lot so he's sort of working into it but I think he's done a terrific job after we were particularly 0-2 to get us in the position where we are now. He's doing a great job and yeah, we're right behind him and hopefully we can play well for him tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Given how strong Cricket Australia were in cancelling the Afghanistan series earlier this year, are you surprised to be playing this match because the reason they gave at the time doesn't seem to have changed at all?
[Steve Smith:]
Yeah, I mean, it's far above my pay grade. We obviously played against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup at home recently and we're playing tomorrow so it's not a question for me, it's far above my pay grade.
[Reporter:]
Can I just ask, what's impressed you about the Afghanistan team's performances at this World Cup particularly?
[Steve Smith:]
I think they've won some key moments in games against some good teams and clearly their spinners are a big threat, they're quality bowlers and they've got some batters particularly at the top of the order that are taking the game on and can take it away from you.
They're a good side and I think they've come a long way in the last five or six years. So, I think they're a tough side and you've got to play well to beat them.
[Reporter:]
Quite a few wins of late have come defending big totals. Will there be any insistence on batting second and chasing in tough conditions that have been here in Mumbai?
Another word if you can on Adam Zampa's performance in the World Cup?
[Steve Smith:]
Firstly, I'm not sure I think this ground - we've seen South Africa scored 400 odd I think batting first, it can be a very good chasing ground so we've got to sum a few things up obviously before we make that decision but then yeah, we'll see how we go.
Zamps, I think he's progressed beautifully throughout this this tournament I thought he bowled beautifully the other night and to be fair England batters probably didn't put him under as much pressure as we thought they might have done but I thought he controlled his length and his pace beautifully and it's probably as good as I've seen in bowl to be fair, and didn’t he just have a good day out with that ball and in the field! Yeah, it was a special day for him and yeah pleased to see.
[Reporter:]
Just getting back to your vertigo. Does that leave you in some doubt for tomorrow? Do you have to get through the game and wake up all right or do you usually pull up okay?
[Steve Smith:]
No, I think I'll be okay. Yeah, I'm not feeling great at present but I'll have a hit and see how we go so hopefully all good.
[Reporter:]
And with the Afghan spinners, you guys haven't seen a lot of Afghanistan or Bangladesh. Is there anything in particular that you guys need to study up on or take more notice of than you might previously?
[Steve Smith:]
I think a lot of the guys have been watching a lot of the games that have been played and we've seen a lot of their bowlers playing around the world in different tournaments and know what they're capable of doing. So yeah, they're some good bowlers and as I said, we're going to have to respect them at times, try and put pressure on them at times and get that balance right.
[Reporter:]
The other day against England, Adam Zampa ticked all the boxes we had batting, bowling, and fielding. And now how are teams looking at him as a batter? Adam Zampa is now practicing his batting shots and all…
[Steve Smith:]
He might try and get himself up the order or something I don't know. No look over the years I've seen him play a few different innings where he's helped the team out for sure. I think the guys were talking in the sheds the other day when he was batting well about a domestic game he played against Queensland where he might have got like 40 off 20 balls or something like that and was hitting Billy Stanlake, like lapping him and things like that. So, he's got all the shots, He's got it all in the shed. And yeah, it was good to see it come out the other day when we probably needed it.