Australia National Cricket Team modern-day batting great Steve Smith has fired a massive warning to the England National Cricket Team ahead of the Ashes 2025-26.
Steve Smith said that the England National Cricket Team batters will find it difficult to play their aggressive brand of cricket in Australia due to the challenging conditions on offer.
I think the wickets in the last three or four years have been really tricky – Steve Smith
The Ashes 2025-26 is set to take place across five iconic venues in Australia from November 2025 to January 2026. The series opener will take place at the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 21 to 25, followed by the second Test at The Gabba in Brisbane from December 4 to 8.
Then, the action will move to Adelaide for the third Test at the Adelaide Oval, scheduled between December 17 and 21, and the fourth Test will be hosted by the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26 to 30. Meanwhile, the series finale will take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 4 to 8, 2026.
Speaking ahead of the marquee Ashes series, Steve Smith talked about the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and said that he thoroughly enjoyed the battle between India and England, labelling it as one of the best Test series.
Steve Smith, however, fired a warning to the Ben Stokes-led side, saying that the tricky wickets in Australia will pose difficulty for them. In an interaction with Sky Sports, he said:
“I’ve watched a lot of the series against India and I think it was one of the best Test series I’ve seen for a long time. The cricket that was played by both teams was outstanding. So, I think England have a good side at the moment. They’re obviously playing a really aggressive brand of cricket, and I think coming down to Australia, particularly for their batters, it’s going to be a big challenge.
“I think the wickets in the last three or four years have been really tricky. We’ve obviously got a very experienced bowling lineup with guys that have played for a long period of time and been extremely successful. So I’m looking forward to the summer.
“I think it’s going to be a great series. I know that the last Ashes was during COVID-19, and the Barmy Army and stuff couldn’t come down. So the atmosphere is going to be entirely different. We love playing in front of big crowds and hostile crowds on both sides. So it’s going to be good fun.
From an Australian point of view, hopefully he doesn’t get 100 this summer – Steve Smith
Joe Root, the former England skipper, is the second-highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket, only behind Sachin Tendulkar. He has scored a plethora of runs across different countries, but Australia has not been his happy hunting ground. In 14 Test matches Down Under, Joe Root has scored just 892 runs at an average of 35.68, without a century.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith lauded his Fab-Four mate for his incredible consistency over the last couple of years, but was hopeful of the England batter failing to score a hundred in Ashes 2025-26. Steve Smith said:
“I think not just in that series, the last probably two years he’s just been incredible. His ability to make big scores, go from 50 to 100, which was probably one thing that he got caught in that 50 to 100 spot for quite a while. Now he’s just making it count and going on and making huge scores. So, I think he hasn’t scored a 100 in Australia.
“I think that’s been talked about quite a lot. I’m sure that’s something that he wants to tick off his bucket list as well. So, like I said, it’s going to be tricky for batting, particularly for top-order batters. From an Australian point of view, hopefully he doesn’t get 100 this summer, but I know that he’ll be working hard towards it.”
No fears here – Steve Smith
Steve Smith has not been in his best form of late, and when asked about the fear of any England bowler, he shut down the question. The Aussie great said:
“No fears here. As a player, you like competing against the best. So, no fears here. Just looking forward to what’s going to be a cool series, particularly with two really good fast bowling attacks going at it. Plenty of good batters on both sides, and it’s going to be a wonderful series.
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