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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHYJune 9, 2017Steven SmithEdgbaston, Birmingham Q. Given the high stakes for Australia tomorrow, is this a scenario that you think will bring out the best in your players? STEVEN SMITH: I hope so. Obviously, a must-win match for us. Yeah, it usually does bring out the best of the Australia cricket team in big tournaments. So let's hope this is the case tomorrow. Q. How much has this England side progressed since you last played them? Are they a very different proposition now? STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, I think they've come a long way. I think they're playing some very good cricket, particularly here at home. They've got some dangerous plays that we're going to have to keep quiet. Yeah, we're certainly going to have to be at our best tomorrow if we're going to beat them. Q. As a team, because of the weather, you've not had as much time out there in the middle as you would have liked. Will that bring a freshness to your team, or could you be a little bit undercooked? STEVEN SMITH: It's not ideal we haven't got through a full fixture yet, but we can't control the weather. We can only control what we're doing, and we've prepared really well in the nets. The guys are looking forward to tomorrow. It's essentially a quarterfinal for us, so we're ready to come up against a good England outfit. Q. Do games against England have that little bit of extra edge? STEVEN SMITH: I suppose so. I guess there's always been a big rivalry with England. So, yeah, the guys are incredibly excited about tomorrow. Looks like the forecast has cleared up a little bit. So hopefully, we can get through our first game of this tournament and have some success. Q. It's obviously been frustrating so far. Do you think you can channel that frustration tomorrow? Is there a danger you might get a little bit touchy and maybe lose focus? STEVEN SMITH: I think for us it's just about treating it as a quarterfinal for us and coming out and playing the way that we know that we're capable of playing. As I said before, it's a quarterfinal for us, and that usually brings out the best in us. Let's hope that this is the case tomorrow. Q. Have there been any nervous looks at the weather forecast at all? STEVEN SMITH: Our guys have been keeping their eye on the weather. It obviously hasn't been great to us so far throughout this tournament. As I said, it looks like it's cleared up a little bit. So hopefully, we can get through a good game tomorrow. Q. Steve, it's a fresh wicket they're preparing for tomorrow. Does that change your thinking with perhaps Adam Zampa playing? STEVEN SMITH: We'll have a look at it. I've only just come down here. I haven't had a chance to look at it today. So I'll have a look at it before we start training and have another look tomorrow before the toss and see what we think is the best team for the given day. Q. John Hastings bowled well here against New Zealand. Does he come back into the equation? STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, I'm sure he'll be talked about, particularly as a new wicket. He's a guy that bowls that little bit slower and can hit the seam and generate … or get whatever's in the wicket. Being a fresh wicket, there could be a little bit there, and he'll certainly come into contention, I'm sure. Q. Does the Ashes come into your thinking at all for this game? As Starc said before, it would be good to land a mental blow given this is the only game between now and the start of the first Test. Does that come into your thinking at all? STEVEN SMITH: I hadn't really thought of it that way to be honest with you. It's a completely different format. Yeah, it's a big tournament and a quarterfinal essentially. Obviously, England are through to the next round already. So hopefully, they don't turn up and play the game that they're capable of playing and let us into the game. Having said that, I don't think they'll do at that playing against Australia. But, yeah, we're excited about tomorrow, and that's our sole focus at the moment. Q. The rain's obviously messed you around the last few days, and you've still got this pay dispute sort of rumbling along in the background. Could you end up feeling a little bit got at as an Australian cricket player at the moment? STEVEN SMITH: I'm sorry? Q. A bit got at. It seems to be piling up on you, doesn't it? STEVEN SMITH: No. Look, that's part and parcel of playing here in England, quite often. There's always … well, there's quite often some rain around. We can't control the weather. We can only control what we can, and that's about making sure we prepare as well as we can for the battle tomorrow. Q. And the pay situation I mentioned as well? Do you set that aside, or could that play on some minds as well? STEVEN SMITH: What situation? Q. The pay dispute that's going on, the MoU? STEVEN SMITH: Look, we're not worried about that at all. We know the ACA is handling that back home. For us, it's about concentrating on this tournament. Tomorrow is a big game for everyone in this group. Everyone is excited, and hopefully we can play a good game tomorrow. Q. Just to follow up on that, is it a challenge for your captaincy trying to keep people focused when there's other outside events going on? Or is it actually something … have you noticed that it's sort of got the players a bit closer together actually in some ways? STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, I think the players have been really united through everything that's going on with the MoU back home. So the guys are in a good place. There hasn't been that much talk about it as a team. I said at the start before we got here, this is an ICC tournament. It only comes around every four years, the Champions Trophy, and it's the second biggest tournament after the World Cup. So we've got to be focused on that. It's a very sort of cut-throat tournament with only three pool matches. So you've got to be switched on for each and every one of those, albeit we're only going to be getting through one potentially. Yeah, I made sure that coming over here, that we're completely focused on this tournament and getting the job done at hand. Rev #1 by #181 at 2017-06-09 12:30:00 GMT CHECKED BY WISDEN INDIA APPROVED BY TIM FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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