artvandalay
State Vice-Captain
'I'm embarrassed to be sitting here'
Angry, embarrassed, frustrated, disappointed, upset, hurting. These were the words synonymous with Steven Smith's Australians in the aftermath of defeat to South Africa in Hobart. Another, resilient, is not.
Smith cut a bewildered and downtrodden figure as he sorted through the wreckage of a humiliating fifth Test match defeat in succession, the national side's first innings loss at home since the fateful Ashes summer of 2010-11. Clearly angry with the performances of his players, he suggested it may be time for widespread personnel changes.
"I am embarrassed to be sitting here to be perfectly honest with you," Smith said. "Too many times we have lost wickets in clumps, 8 for 30 today, 10 for 85 in the first innings, and you are not winning any games of cricket when are you doing that. And it is happening way too consistently for my liking.
"We are not being resilient, we are not willing to tough it out and get through tough periods and the longer you spend out there things get easier, albeit the wicket was doing quite a bit and it was hard. But, the boys have got to start being a bit tougher and getting in a grind and getting in a contest and try to build a few partnerships because right now it is not good enough."
Asked directly about the tenure of the national team coach Darren Lehmann, who signed a contract extension in August to take him through to 2019, Smith was adamant in his support. "I think he's been terrific over a long period of time," he said. "It's not his fault we're not playing well, it's up to us to go out there and do the job. He does everything he can for us in training and preparation.
"We prepare well, it's just at the moment when we get out in the middle we're not executing our skills well enough and not handling the pressures of international cricket well enough. As a playing group that has to change, and from my point of view I have absolutely no problem with anything Darren is doing at the moment."
Smith was less effusive in his words about the way the selection panel was operating, declining to answer the question of whether he was getting the teams he desired. "It's obviously talked about and I do talk to the selectors quite a bit and in the end it is up to them to pick the team that they think best," he said. "I have got to back their job and go out there and support our guys and do whatever we can to win cricket matches but obviously we're not doing that and it is not working."
With the knowledge that Australia are currently mired in the sort of slump that costs careers, Smith admitted that all manner of issues, from selection and schedules to the personnel in and around the team and at Cricket Australia would all be under heavy scrutiny.
"Yeah, it is not working," Smith said when asked if the time had come to rip up existing plans and start over. "So, obviously on the back of five losses there is going to be a lot talked about in regards to selection and things like that. And we've got to start finding a way to turn things around.
The captain Steven Smith said that in a change from original plans, the likes of David Warner, Joe Burns, Adam Voges, Callum Ferguson and the gloveman Peter Nevill will be set to appear in the Shield in an attempt to regain confidence.
"The next week I reckon there's actually a pretty good chance that a lot of the batters are going to go back and play some Shield cricket," Smith said. "Try and spend some time out in the middle and score some runs. it's not happening at the moment, so we've got to try and find a way to get better and spend some time in the middle and I guess concentrate on some of the things that I've talked about to the team.
'That's being able to be resilient, spend long periods out in the middle and get some big scores and put some big partnerships together. I think a lot of the batters, I'm not sure about the bowlers, I don't think they'll play. but I think the batters are going to end up playing Shield cricket this week."
"Whether the ball is seaming or spinning or swinging we don't have an answer at the moment. We are not resilient enough, we are not digging in enough, we are not having the pride in our wicket, we're just not being resilient enough and something has got to change. We have got to play a lot better than we have been if we are going to beat any opposition around the world at the moment."
Smith agreed that the present batting rut suggested the team had not earned the right to play with the sort of flair and aggression usually associated with Australian cricket. In conditions conducive to bowlers but far from impossible, he said that the players in the team had to think more keenly about their approach.
"I think that depends on conditions, if the wickets are flat and there is nothing happening fine you can play aggressively and positively," he said. "But if there is anything in the wicket: spin, swing, seam, at the moment we are not adapting well enough, we are not willing to grind it out and spend enough time out in the middle to be positive.
"It comes down to that resilience and having a good defence, at the moment our defence is being challenged and it hasn't been good enough. You can play that positive brand once you get in and things get easier, but we have got to be willing to do the hard yards to be in a position where we can be positive and drive the game."
Looking more widely around Australian cricket, Smith said he wanted to see more evidence of hungry batsmen in domestic cricket. "There's some guys there that are scoring some big runs on occasions and then probably not being as consistent as they would like to put their names up there," he said. "That's what I mean when I say no one is really jumping out of the pack and getting big hundreds or three hundreds in a row.
"At the moment what we've got going on is not working so it might be about getting some younger guys in and getting some experience at this level, you never know, guys might really step up to the plate and step up to the level of international cricket."
Angry, embarrassed, frustrated, disappointed, upset, hurting. These were the words synonymous with Steven Smith's Australians in the aftermath of defeat to South Africa in Hobart. Another, resilient, is not.
Smith cut a bewildered and downtrodden figure as he sorted through the wreckage of a humiliating fifth Test match defeat in succession, the national side's first innings loss at home since the fateful Ashes summer of 2010-11. Clearly angry with the performances of his players, he suggested it may be time for widespread personnel changes.
"I am embarrassed to be sitting here to be perfectly honest with you," Smith said. "Too many times we have lost wickets in clumps, 8 for 30 today, 10 for 85 in the first innings, and you are not winning any games of cricket when are you doing that. And it is happening way too consistently for my liking.
"We are not being resilient, we are not willing to tough it out and get through tough periods and the longer you spend out there things get easier, albeit the wicket was doing quite a bit and it was hard. But, the boys have got to start being a bit tougher and getting in a grind and getting in a contest and try to build a few partnerships because right now it is not good enough."
Asked directly about the tenure of the national team coach Darren Lehmann, who signed a contract extension in August to take him through to 2019, Smith was adamant in his support. "I think he's been terrific over a long period of time," he said. "It's not his fault we're not playing well, it's up to us to go out there and do the job. He does everything he can for us in training and preparation.
"We prepare well, it's just at the moment when we get out in the middle we're not executing our skills well enough and not handling the pressures of international cricket well enough. As a playing group that has to change, and from my point of view I have absolutely no problem with anything Darren is doing at the moment."
Smith was less effusive in his words about the way the selection panel was operating, declining to answer the question of whether he was getting the teams he desired. "It's obviously talked about and I do talk to the selectors quite a bit and in the end it is up to them to pick the team that they think best," he said. "I have got to back their job and go out there and support our guys and do whatever we can to win cricket matches but obviously we're not doing that and it is not working."
With the knowledge that Australia are currently mired in the sort of slump that costs careers, Smith admitted that all manner of issues, from selection and schedules to the personnel in and around the team and at Cricket Australia would all be under heavy scrutiny.
"Yeah, it is not working," Smith said when asked if the time had come to rip up existing plans and start over. "So, obviously on the back of five losses there is going to be a lot talked about in regards to selection and things like that. And we've got to start finding a way to turn things around.
The captain Steven Smith said that in a change from original plans, the likes of David Warner, Joe Burns, Adam Voges, Callum Ferguson and the gloveman Peter Nevill will be set to appear in the Shield in an attempt to regain confidence.
"The next week I reckon there's actually a pretty good chance that a lot of the batters are going to go back and play some Shield cricket," Smith said. "Try and spend some time out in the middle and score some runs. it's not happening at the moment, so we've got to try and find a way to get better and spend some time in the middle and I guess concentrate on some of the things that I've talked about to the team.
'That's being able to be resilient, spend long periods out in the middle and get some big scores and put some big partnerships together. I think a lot of the batters, I'm not sure about the bowlers, I don't think they'll play. but I think the batters are going to end up playing Shield cricket this week."
"Whether the ball is seaming or spinning or swinging we don't have an answer at the moment. We are not resilient enough, we are not digging in enough, we are not having the pride in our wicket, we're just not being resilient enough and something has got to change. We have got to play a lot better than we have been if we are going to beat any opposition around the world at the moment."
Smith agreed that the present batting rut suggested the team had not earned the right to play with the sort of flair and aggression usually associated with Australian cricket. In conditions conducive to bowlers but far from impossible, he said that the players in the team had to think more keenly about their approach.
"I think that depends on conditions, if the wickets are flat and there is nothing happening fine you can play aggressively and positively," he said. "But if there is anything in the wicket: spin, swing, seam, at the moment we are not adapting well enough, we are not willing to grind it out and spend enough time out in the middle to be positive.
"It comes down to that resilience and having a good defence, at the moment our defence is being challenged and it hasn't been good enough. You can play that positive brand once you get in and things get easier, but we have got to be willing to do the hard yards to be in a position where we can be positive and drive the game."
Looking more widely around Australian cricket, Smith said he wanted to see more evidence of hungry batsmen in domestic cricket. "There's some guys there that are scoring some big runs on occasions and then probably not being as consistent as they would like to put their names up there," he said. "That's what I mean when I say no one is really jumping out of the pack and getting big hundreds or three hundreds in a row.
"At the moment what we've got going on is not working so it might be about getting some younger guys in and getting some experience at this level, you never know, guys might really step up to the plate and step up to the level of international cricket."
