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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY

June 10, 2017

Steven Smith

Edgbaston, Birmingham

England won by 40 runs (D/L method)

Q. Steve, that's obviously a pretty disappointing end for what's been a pretty frustrating couple of weeks.
STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, it is. Out of the tournament now. So that's never nice. I thought we let ourselves down a little bit today. We got ourselves in a pretty good position early with the bat, probably 2 for 150, or wherever we were there. We kept losing wickets through the middle, and someone in the top four probably needed to go on and make a hundred. We weren't able to do that. We lost 5 for 15 at one point as well, which you can't afford to do against an opposition like England.

So that wasn't ideal. I thought we started reasonably well with the ball. To get three early wickets was quite crucial, and then it seemed like there was a bit of a momentum shift after that rain delay. You know, Stokesy and Morgy came out and played very positively. We were off a bit with the way we were bowling. We gave them a lot of freebies, but they did play exceptionally well.

Q. Steve, Ricky Ponting said today that, from his point of view, it looked like the group was maybe a bit jaded and a bit worn out after a long time on the road. Have you got that sense during the last couple of weeks? Seeing as you're at the end of a long season, that it maybe took its toll a bit?
STEVEN SMITH: I didn't get that feeling. That's no excuse anyway. When you're playing in a big tournament for your country, you need to step up and get the job done. We weren't able to do that on this occasion, unfortunately.

We had some frustrating games throughout and just haven't been able to find any momentum, I guess. And today, yeah, it was disappointing.

Q. Obviously, the dropped catch by Matthew Wade on Eoin Morgan, was that a turning point, do you think?
STEVEN SMITH: It certainly hurt. After that, Morgy got going and played particularly well. So could have had them 4 for 30-odd or wherever we were there, and Jos in with a reasonably new ball, which he's probably not used to that much. So, yeah, it probably hurt a little bit, yeah.

Q. Is it hard to take too much out of this tournament for you guys, given you've only really had the one game, and the one game you did have, the batsmen looked a bit out of sorts, haden't had a hit. Two games washed out, is it? I know you were out before the finals, but can you take much out of the tournament at all?
STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, you say that we only had one hit, but that should be good enough for the players that we've got on our team. You know, we've got some good players in our line-up. We just weren't able to get those partnerships together today and get ourselves a score up over 300.

I thought after the start we had -- it was actually quite difficult early on. England probably bowled a fraction short with the newer ball, and when they got it up there, it was quite hard work. So that was something that we wanted to learn from when we bowled, and we did that at the start. We got it up there and got the ball to nip about a bit. And then we were just off with our execution.

And to be fair, Stokesy and Morgs came at us and played very positively, but we were off with our execution, and you can't be off when you're bowling to quality players like that. They're quality players.

Q. Is Ben Stokes the best player in the world at the moment?
STEVEN SMITH: He's certainly playing very well. I don't like to put any tags on anything like that. But he's a fantastic player, and he's getting better and better as well, I think. So he contributes in every aspect of the game, whether it's bowling, out in the field, taking great catches, or with the bat now. It looked -- he played a fantastic innings today, really took the game on, and was hard to stop.

Q. Steve, what's next for you now in the next couple of months? When you get back home, do you think you might get a bit more involved in the whole MOU situation?
STEVEN SMITH: A bit of a break for me now and a few of the guys, I think. It has been a long stint. We've been gone for a while. So, yeah, a little bit of a break and then preparing for Test series in Bangladesh.

Q. So you're confident that at the end that will go ahead?
STEVEN SMITH: At this stage, I'm sure it will, yeah.

Q. Just talking in regards to the MOU situation and whether it gets cleared up. As I say, when you get back, will you get a little bit more involved in that?
STEVEN SMITH: At the moment, we're supporting the ACA, and we're right behind them. We might have a few chats and stuff here and there now that this tournament's over. But, yeah, we're supportive of everything they're doing.

Q. Steve, just in the field today, you seemed a little bit off after the rain delay. Was that just a lack of concentration? Was it just a long trip and guys are tired? You seemed to be quite frustrated with some of the misfields out there?
STEVEN SMITH: Yeah, we just didn't put it together after the break. As I said, Stokesy and Morgs played very well. Yeah, we were just a bit off with our execution, and you can't afford to be off when you're bowling to those guys. So from that aspect, it was disappointing. It was a must-win game for us. We just didn't turn up the way I would have liked us to after the break.

Q. Steve, sorry, just back to Stokesy. Obviously, you captained him in the IPL. Did you notice a quick development in him during that period? Obviously, coming into his first tournament with a big price tag, and he really did well. Did you notice even then he developed in six weeks or however long it was?
STEVEN SMITH: I always thought he was a good player. He's an incredibly strong lad and hits the ball very hard. So those are the kind of things you want in white-ball cricket. I think he's probably developed some smarts and, you know, timing of his innings and things like that. I'm sure the more he plays, the better he'll get at that as well. He's certainly a quality player, and he's in exceptional form at the moment.

REVIEWED BY RAJ

CHECKED BY WISDEN

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