Aust batsmen must adapt for NZ tour: Smith

Australian cricket captain Steve Smith said the New Zealand wickets will do a little bit and his players must adapt.

Australian cricket captain Steve Smith

Captain Steve Smith says the New Zealand wickets will do a little bit and his players must adapt. (AAP)

Captain Steve Smith has called on Australia's top order to prove they have learned Ashes lessons as they prioritise improving the team's patchy away record.

Smith says a key feature of next month's New Zealand tour will be how well the batsmen adapt to the local conditions.

It was one of the glaring problems during last year Ashes series loss in the UK.

New Zealand's pacemen led by Trent Boult loom as big threats on their seam-friendly wickets.

"They're going to prepare wickets that are going to do a little bit," Smith said on Friday.

"We have some bowlers there to hopefully get a bit out of that and the batters are going to have to adapt a bit better than we have previously on wickets that have done stuff.

"Guys are working hard and we know what to expect."

Smith will be in an advance party that goes to New Zealand on Saturday, meaning he misses the last two home T20 games against India.

Australia will play three one-day internationals against the Black Caps from February 3 and then have two Tests from February 12.

While Australia easily beat New Zealand 2-0 in the home Test series earlier this summer, Smith said his team must start showing it can do better on the road.

"We're very hungry for New Zealand - we haven't performed extremely well away from home," he said.

"That's on the top of my agenda, to make sure we're playing well away from home."

He added the rushed schedule should not be a problem.

A handful of the Test squad will play in the NSW-WA Sheffield Shield match, to be played at Lincoln, near Christchurch, from February 3 while others including Queenslanders Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns are in shield matches in Australia.

"We've played a lot of cricket this summer, all the guys have been playing and everyone will be playing some form of cricket, whether it's one-day or the Shield match," Smith said.

"It's adequate preparation and we'll be ready to go."

He also defended the decision not to pick Khawaja for the one-dayers despite his sensational form this summer.

Smith noted the Australian one-day team was consistently scoring 300-plus.

"Uzzy can play anywhere at the moment and score runs," Smiths aid.

"He will get a Shield game in and he'll be fine to go.

"It's a hard team to break into. We've been playing extremely good one-day cricket."


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world