SYDNEY — Australia captain Steve Smith admits the team has its work cut out after their 3-0 Test series loss to Sri Lanka, but says it’ll be a different ball game on home soil against South Africa.
Smith and his colleagues pull on their pads Tuesday for day-night Sheffield Shield domestic games with several players needing to impress before the first Test against the Proteas starts in Perth on Nov. 3.
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor recently claimed only five members of the current Test side, which went down 3-0 in Sri Lanka in September, were assured of their places. They included Smith, David Warner, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood.
The skipper admitted that Australia’s latest performances had been poor, with the one-day team whitewashed 5-0 by South Africa following the Sri Lanka hammering. “Results haven’t gone our way in the last couple of months but that’s the game of cricket sometimes,” he said in comments published by The Australian Tuesday.
“You have to move on and try and improve. I was disappointed with the way we played in Sri Lanka. We probably let a few opportunities slip so we’ve got to move forward and try to improve in those conditions. There’s a lot of work to do there.”
But Smith, himself under the microscope after Australian great Steve Waugh said his captaincy would be closely monitored in the summer Test series against South Africa and Pakistan, insisted it would be different on Australian soil.
“I’m comfortable with where we’re at back in Australia. We’ve played good cricket here in the past and hopefully we can continue to do that this summer.”
The squad for the three-Test South Africa series is set to be announced Friday with the likes of batsmen Shaun Marsh and Adam Voges, all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Moises Henriques, and spinners Nathan Lyon and Jon Holland keen to prove their form.
Smith said he believed selectors were close but still had not decided on an XI for the first Test.
“I’d say they want to see a few guys play the first couple of days in the Shield game then be settled,” he said. “I don’t think they are too far off.”
As well as Perth, Australia face South Africa in Hobart and Adelaide before a home Test series against Pakistan in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney from December 15.
Lehmann to ‘chat’ with
aggrieved Khawaja
Meanwhile, Australia coach Darren Lehmann will have a ‘private chat’ with Usman Khawaja after the top order batsman publicly criticized selectors for dropping him during the Sri Lanka tour. Khawaja and opener Joe Burns were omitted for the third and final test in Colombo, which Australia lost to slump to a 3-0 series whitewash.
Although both the Queenslanders struggled for runs, Khawaja told local media over the weekend he felt they were unfairly singled out. “It was disappointing that Joe Burns and I were sort of the scapegoats for not performing,” Khawaja told Fairfax Media. “I found it pretty fickle that the selectors dropped me for the third one.”
Lehmann said he would talk to Khawaja but denied the batsman’s comments would count against his hopes of a recall. “He is not on the back foot,” Lehmann told local reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday. (But) I will chat to him privately. We would rather have these things played out between selectors and players.”
Khawaja and Burns both enjoyed outstanding home summers against New Zealand and West Indies but struggled on the flat wickets of Sri Lanka in August where they averaged 13.75 and 8.50 runs respectively.
“Being on the selection panel for the Test match, it was warranted,” Lehmann said of their omission in Colombo.
Khawaja and Burns are hoping to impress selectors in Queensland’s day-night Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales this week.
Western Australia batsman Shaun Marsh, who replaced Burns and scored a century in Colombo, is also bidding for a top order spot as he recovers from a hamstring injury. — Agencies
