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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY

June 2, 2017

Steve Smith

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Match Abandoned

Q. Obviously got to be pretty disappointing not to get a full game in. What did you make of what you saw?
STEVE SMITH: I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we've put on for a very long time. We bowled both sides of wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies. And it was pretty ordinary, to be honest with you.

Q. Is that rustiness because Mitch and Josh didn't play in the IPL? Is it a bit of that or what do you put that down to?
STEVE SMITH: Let's hope it's rust and let's hope it's gone. Because that was, as I said, it was pretty ordinary. And credit to them they came out quite hard and played quite well up top and got their innings going. And Kane timed his innings beautifully, played really well throughout the middle. But, yeah, we did not bowl well at all. So that's something we need to look at and improve on for the next game.

Q. You didn't think the ball was pulled back a little bit in the last half of the innings?
STEVE SMITH: The last probably 10, 15 overs was pretty good, and that's something that I guess we have done pretty well for a very long time. But if you start well, you certainly make things a hell of a lot easier on yourselves and today we didn't do that.

Q. Was that a concern, particularly about Mitch seeing he hadn't played since the Indian tour? Were you worried a little bit that they might be a little bit under done?
STEVE SMITH: He's a seasoned campaigner and now he's played a lot of cricket. He's one of the best bowlers in the world. So you've got to back those guys and he's worked incredibly hard the last couple of weeks to get himself in a position where he could play. And he's been bowling well in the nets. Let's hope today was a bit of rust and we can let that go and keep moving forward.

Q. What was the overwhelming sort of feeling when the rain came down? Do you feel like 53-for-3, perhaps got away with one there? Or do you feel like you're still well in it?
STEVE SMITH: We obviously still had some batters in the shed that can certainly play when you need to be chasing a total like that. But probably certainly would have preferred to being in New Zealand's position when we came off the end there. We still had a lot of work to do and they've got a quality bowling attack as well. So we perhaps got away with one there.

Q. Do you feel the top order is a matter of concern before the next match? Or was it just a matter of stops and starts that were affecting you?
STEVE SMITH: Our top order? I don't think it's a big concern. Guys were going pretty hard. We had a pretty big total to chase down. And those can go sort of one or two ways. Those guys can come off, which they do majority of the time. So we're not really worried about that.

Q. With the game on Monday, what do you do with the kind of team selection? Do you kind of give guys that need time in the middle, time in the middle, or do you make changes?
STEVE SMITH: We're going to be trying to win the game. So whatever team we see fit for the next match against Bangladesh at The Oval, we'll look at the conditions there and see what sort of wicket we get. And obviously we've got to win the next game and probably quite well as well. So, yeah, we'll look at that when we get there.

Q. When there's debates about the best batsmen in the world it's usually surrounding yourself, Kohli, Joe Root and guys like that. Do you think Williamson is quietly doing his own thing and should be up there with you guys?
STEVE SMITH: I think Kane is a magnificent player in all formats of the game. He's a very smart cricketer, he understands his game incredibly well. And he's just -- he's a very good player. And it looks like he's just getting better as well. So, yeah, great player.

Q. With just the selection, picking Moises for the first time in a while. Was that a last-minute thing ahead of Chris Lynn or was that in your plans all week?
STEVE SMITH: It was probably in our plans. We could have gone a couple of different ways. Moises's bowling was quite handy today as well. He's a good fielder. So, yeah, we went that option. And, yeah, obviously today didn't work out. We're going pretty hard as well just before the rain came down to try and get in front of the game. So it wasn't an ideal sort of scenario. But, yeah, hopefully we can see him score some runs in the next game.

Q. Given the format, it's so short. How difficult does that make it now given the first game's been washed out?
STEVE SMITH: Yeah, it's obviously not ideal for both sides to have a washout. So for us now it's just about making sure that we're playing each game like a final and winning the next two. It's a pretty quick tournament. So you can't really afford too many, well, a washout, really, or a loss. So you've got to turn it around quickly now and control what you can control.

Q. Was there anything for bowlers on this wicket, especially for spinners?
STEVE SMITH: No, I don't think there was any spin according to Heady and Whitey. There wasn't a great deal there. It really didn't swing much for both sides at all. Perhaps because there was a bit of moisture in the ground and the ball was getting a little bit wet at times, but it was a pretty good wicket to be fair.

Q. Is there a strategy change given the way they went after you, the quick bowlers? And obviously the selection of the squad was with the four big quicks and maybe using them as the mainstay of the attack. But given they got whacked around a little bit, do you restrategize a little bit and look more maybe at Moises, (indiscernible), John Hastings, obviously he bowls (indiscernible), maybe bringing in Adam Zampa in that way, given how they went after the quicks today?
STEVE SMITH: As you said, Moises and Hastings bowled a reasonable amount today. So it seemed like almost the slower you bowled, it was a little bit better for these conditions. So, again, that's what we're going to have to look at at The Oval and see what we think our best 11 is for that particular wicket against Bangladesh.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

Checked by Wisden India.

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