Australia star batter Steve Smith made a strong statement ahead of the crucial Ashes series against England and smacked a blistering ton in the Sheffield Shield. Smith, who will be leading Australia in the first Ashes Test due to Pat Cummins' absence, has been playing for the New South Wales in Sheffield Shield in order to prepare well for the important assignment ahead.
Smith's fabulous knock
The 36-year-old impressed with the bat in the match against Queensland in Brisbane and slammed a fantastic century. He also formed a mammoth 202-run partnership alongside Kurtis Patterson, who also went on to reach triple figures later on. Coming out to bat at No.4, Smith smacked 20 boundaries and a six in his knock of 118 runs from 176 deliveries.
The batter was eventually dismissed by Sam Bazley, but his century massively helped the New South Wales in crossing the 300-run mark on the second day. Alongside Smith, both Sam Konstas and Nathan Lyon are also featuring for the New South Wales. On the other hand, the likes of Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw and Marnus Labuschagne are present in Queenslamd's playing XI.
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Meanwhile, Smith will undoubtedly be one of Australia's most important players when it comes to the Ashes series and the team will be relying on him to deliver with the bat. He is one of the most experienced players present in the Baggy Greens' current Test set-up and will be hoping to dominate against England in what is expected to be a cracker of the series.
England's squad for The Ashes
While the Aussies are yet to announce their squad for The Ashes, England have already done so. They went for a pace-heavy attack with a total of seven different options to choose from. They have also kept Shoaib Bashir and Jacob Bethell as their two spin options while Joe Root can also be handed the ball on occasions. It remains to be seen if this side will finally be able to end England's 15-year wait for a Test victory against Australia.
England's squad for The Ashes: Ben Stokes (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Mark Wood.