LONDON: Australia batting great Steve Smith is expecting a tough examination from South Africa´s impressive pace attack in this week´s World Test Championship final at Lord´s.
Reigning champions Australia, who beat India in the WTC final in 2023, are favourites against the Proteas in the five-day match, which starts on Wednesday. “South Africa have a particularly good bowling attack led by Kagiso Rabada, his record speaks for itself. Marco Jansen — they are a good side, they are here for a reason,” Smith said on Monday.
Rabada, 30, has taken 327 wickets at an average of 22 while Jansen, 25, has 73 wickets at 21.76 in his 17 matches. But former Test captain Smith also expects conditions at Lord´s to favour spin bowling later in the game, which could work to the advantage of Australia off-break bowler Nathan Lyon.
“I think spin will play a big part, particularly as the game wears on,” Smith added. “We´ve only been here a week, but I think it´s been pretty dry start to the season over here. “There hasn´t there been too much rain, which is rare for England. It does look like quite a dry surface and I think the footmarks will definitely come into play as the game wears on.”
Smith has a superb Test record at London´s Lord´s ground, with 525 runs in five matches, including a double century and a hundred, at an average of 58.33. “I´ve had a bit of success here,” said the 36-year-old. “It takes a bit of time getting used to the slope, one end thinking you are falling over, the other you feel a bit tall.
“It´s a nice wicket to bat on but if there´s a bit of cloud about and the balls swing around, it can get tricky. “Batting on this surface is about just summing it up and playing what´s in front of you and being able to adapt accordingly.” Several members of the Australia squad have not played much first-class cricket in recent months but Smith said: “All the batters feel like they´re in a good place, so now we´re just excited to go out and play.
“Lord´s is a place we traditionally played pretty good cricket, so we´re excited about the prospect of coming up against South Africa.” Smith´s career was almost derailed by his involvement in a 2018 ball-tampering scandal against South Africa in Cape Town.
But he said relations between the two teams were now “pretty relaxed”. There have been suggestions the WTC final should be played over several games rather than being just a one-off match. “Maybe a three-match series would be good but good luck fitting it in the schedule, it´s pretty jam-packed as it is,” said Smith.
South Africa boosted by Broad chat ahead of WTC final against Australia
South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said his side had enjoyed an “enlightening” evening with England fast-bowling great Stuart Broad ahead of their World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord´s.
Broad bowed out of international action two years ago, having taken 604 wickets in 167 Tests, with many of his best performances reserved for arch-rivals Australia. The 38-year-old met with the South Africans over a meal on Sunday to help with their preparations for the match against the reigning champions, starting on Wednesday.
“It was just a casual chat but if the guys hadn´t called time at 10:30 pm (2130 GMT) we´d still be there chatting,” Conrad told reporters at Lord´s on Monday.
“Everybody walked away thinking that was great.” Conrad said he also welcomed a visit to Sunday´s training session from former South Africa captain Graeme Smith.
“He´s a legend in South African cricket, the most successful Test captain we have had,” he said. “He´s not going to impose himself but if anyone wants to have a chat he´s there for that.”
Conrad said the interactions with Broad and Smith were not formal consultations. “It´s just using whatever we can,” he said. “If it adds value, great.”
Conrad also batted back suggestions that South Africa had an easy route to the final, having not played against Australia or England during the championship cycle. “I´m tired of speaking about it. We´re here and we´ve got a chance to walk away as world Test champions,” he said.
“Playing Australia, it doesn´t get any bigger than that. What´s gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute. We´re quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them.
“We still hold Test cricket very dearly. Our fixture list might not speak to that, but this is the biggest final all of our players have ever been involved in and their biggest match.” South Africa go into the five-day match with a novice batting line-up.
