Colombo, Feb 11 (UNI) Australia star batter Steve Smith said Champions Trophy is at the forefront of his team’s thoughts ahead of the two-ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The 35-year-old, who is likely to stand in as skipper for the series with Australia struggling with injuries, emphasised that Australia are focused on the Champions Trophy, but dismissed any suggestion that they are taking the upcoming clashes against Sri Lanka lightly.
“I’d be lying if I said the Champions Trophy wasn’t at the forefront of our minds, it’s a massive ICC tournament for us,” said Smith ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
“While our focus is firmly on finishing this series on a strong note, there is no denying that the Champions Trophy is looming large. We want to make sure we carry good form into that competition,” he said.
Smith credited the training camp in the United Arab Emirates as a key factor in Australia’s success on their subcontinent tour, an ICC report said.
The team secured a 2-0 Test series sweep against Sri Lanka, marking their first red-ball series win in the country in 14 years. Now, they aim to carry that momentum into the Champions Trophy.
“It was a hugely beneficial camp for us, we were able to prepare wickets [on] that were really challenging,” Smith said.
“The batters found methods to succeed in these conditions, the spinners worked on varying their pace, and the seamers fine-tuned their reverse swing, and we hope to bring all that into this series and finish well,” he said.
There is little turnaround time between the Test and white-ball series, but Smith isn’t too concerned about the team’s ability to adapt to different formats.
“Some of the group that are here have been playing some Big Bash, so they’ve been playing white-ball cricket,and the guys that have been playing Test cricket need to get in tune with the 50-over format,” he said.
“I don’t think it takes too much for most of the guys these days to just get back into the swing of things and get the pace of the game. That’s what it’s all about in these next two games,” Smith said.
Smith participated in light throwing as he assessed the right elbow injury he worsened while making a throw from the infield on final day’s play of the second Test. He had initially suffered a blow during the Big Bash last month but was cleared to play.
“It’s all right, my throwing is probably going to be limited for a little bit,” Smith said.
“I threw one the other day off balance which wasn’t ideal at that stage, but it feels a lot better than it did when I injured it initially during that Big Bash game. It won’t affect my batting, just my throwing a little bit at this stage,” he added.
Australia’s two ODIs against Sri Lanka will be played on Wednesday (February 12) and Friday (February 14) before they begin their Champions Trophy campaign against England in Lahore on February 22.
