Steve Smith, with years of experience at his disposal, is “chilled” ahead of leading Australia in a stand-in capacity in the first Ashes Test against England in Perth on Friday.
“I’m pretty chilled,” the 36-year-old told reporters. “I think I’ve learned a lot over my journey. And yeah, the couple of times that I’ve stood in for Paddy (Pat Cummins), I’ve tried to be pretty relaxed and let the game play.
“And, obviously, I’ve got to do it my own way out there and have my own style. But I’m a lot more relaxed these days, chilled and let the guys go about their work.”
He described the loss of frontline quicks Cummins and Josh Hazlewood as “unfortunate”, but suggested that even if Australia go on to lose the opening Test, it would not be the end of the world.
“For us, it’s about just ignoring the outside noise, concentrating on our processes, what we do well as a team and trusting and backing that throughout,” Smith said. “Everyone’s been raring to go for the last few days of training and ... (it) all starts tomorrow (Friday),” he added.
Opener Jake Weatherald would face the new ball in his debut Test, while fellow debutant Brendan Doggett will hope to boost a depleted pace attack.
Smith said there was no chance that he would be predicting any results.
With inputs from Reuters