Ashes 2023: Steve Smith arrives in “enemy territory” for county stint, Targets ‘bucket list’ win in England
Ashes 2023: Steve Smith has already had banter with Ashes villain Stuart Broad and been bowled by England quick Ollie Robinson in the nets after arriving for his county cricket stint ahead of what could “potentially” be his last Test series in England.
The Australian star, who smashed an epic 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes that was drawn 2-2, has landed in England for a stint with Sussex that the locals are not too happy with.
Sussex coach Paul Farbrace denied any notion that his team was “helping Australia to win the Ashes” by allowing Smith to play for them, adamant that he was helping county cricket more than anything.
Ashes 2023: Steve Smith targets ‘bucket list’ win in England
Steve Smith says winning a Test series in England would be a “bucket list” achievement as he prepares for potentially his final overseas Ashes series with a stint at county club Sussex.
The star batsman turned down a chance to play in the lucrative IPL to appear in three County Championship matches for the south coast side, starting with Thursday’s second division clash away to Worcestershire.
Smith said this county lead-in to the Ashes was something he wanted to do “for a long time” and the benefits would be obvious.
“I’ve got a lot of cricket coming up and a window opened up to come and play some county cricket. It’s something I’ve never done and have always wanted to do, so the stars aligned in a way,” he said.
“We are over here for the English summer and it’s a good opportunity to play some county cricket, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s going to be a good couple of months. I’m excited.”
No doubt there will be more talk to come. For now, Smith is gearing towards a return to competitive action, which began on Monday with a session with the 2nd XI before batting with the first team on Tuesday morning.
He did so in a net alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, his captain for these three matches before becoming an opponent for the WTC Final in a month’s time at The Oval. With Pujara batting three, Smith will slot in at five. “I haven’t been that low for a while,” he said. “I’ve played a lot against Pujara, watched him churn out plenty of runs. So it’d be nice to spend some time in the middle with him and put a few good partnerships together.”
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