Australia need work on lot of areas, says captain Steve Smith

Mitchell Marsh's bowling and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's lower middle order batting powered Australia to a 58-run win against hosts West Indies.

Australia, the world’s top-ranked one-day-international side, need to work on a number of aspects to improve ahead of next year’s Champions Trophy, captain Steve Smith said after they won a triangular series win in the West Indies.

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s bowling and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade’s lower middle order batting powered Australia to a 58-run win against hosts West Indies in the final of the tournament, which also included South Africa.

“I was pleased with the way we scrapped today,” Smith told reporters after the victory in Barbados. “I am using that word a lot.
But that’s been bit of a theme in this series with the kind of wickets we have been playing on.

“I am pleased we were able to get the job done.”

The Champions Trophy, featuring the top eight teams in the world, will be held next June in England and Wales where Australia have been grouped with the hosts, New Zealand and Bangladesh.

In Sunday’s final, West Indies made a brisk start in their chase of 271 with a 49-run opening stand between Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher before Australia wrested back control and Smith said his bowlers need to start better with the new ball.

“We have to continue to start well with the ball,” the 27-year-old said. “In the last probably three of four series we have been up against some pretty dynamic opening batters. They have got the better of us at the start.

“We have been lucky enough to pull it back in the middle overs and bowl pretty well at the death. We will make things a lot easier for ourselves if we start really well, hit good areas and execute our plans.”

Smith was confident that Australia’s young team will only get better as they play more together.

“We still got a lot of areas to work on … our fielding still needs a lot of work. We need to have the energy we had today in every game,” he said.

“Hopefully as this group continues to play more together we will continue to learn each other’s games and continue to gel well as a team.”

Tri-series: Steve Smith names twelve-man group for Australia’s first game

AUSTRALIA’S glut of quality top-order batsmen has cost George Bailey dearly, with the 33-year-old left out of the XI against the West Indies.

Australia’s glut of quality top-order batsmen has cost Bailey his spot, with all three of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja selected, with captain Steve Smith to bat at No.4.

Faulkner’s omission has allowed Australia to pick an extra specialist bowler, with Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon all selected in a 12-man outfit. Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh have also been selected, with the playing XI yet to be named.

Smith has called on his batsmen to be smart instead of spectacular in their ODI tri-series opener.

Australia’s streak of six straight ODI series wins, which included the 2015 World Cup, ended earlier this year in New Zealand.

The lessons learned from that 2-1 series loss are at the forefront of skipper Smith’s mind in Guyana.

“It was a disappointing series. I don’t think we played our best cricket,” Smith told AAP.

“We let ourselves down in the batting department, particularly in the middle overs.

“It’s something that we need to be better at over here … it’s about being smart.”

The venue’s spin-friendly reputation was enhanced in the first match of the tournament, when the hosts defeated South Africa by four wickets, and as such both Zampa and Lyon are expected to play.

Mystery spinner Sunil Narine claimed career-best figures of 6-27, while tweakers were responsible for all six wickets to fall in West Indies’ innings.

“Spin is going to play a big part for both South Africa and West Indies in this series, if we play their spinners well it will go a long way to winning games,” Smith said.

Australia has struggled to score freely against spinners on slow-and-low pitches in recent years.

Narine, who returned during the Indian Premier League after being banned because of an illegal action, is the man most capable of denying Australia victory.

The 28-year-old boasts all manner of variations, most notably his knuckle balls and sliders.

“He’s a quality bowler with a different set of skills compared to most people around the world,” Smith said.

“It’s going to take a bit of adapting to that.

“Most of our batsmen have played against him in the past. You know what to expect, you’ve just got to play each ball on its merits.”

A hamstring injury forced Finch to miss Australia’s trip across the Tasman in February, when Usman Khawaja impressed in his absence.

Khawaja, who was Australia’s leading run-scorer at the recent World Twenty20 and opened throughout that tournament, will bat at first drop but could be shuffled up the order later this month.

“It’s not necessarily set for the series but that’s what we’re starting with,” Smith said of the opening combo.

Faulkner, Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Travis Head are the members of the 16-man touring party who missed the cut for the first match.

Australia XII: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon (12th man yet to be named).

Mike Mitchell responds to Steve Smith's 'hit list' bounty

Former teammates in Carolina, Smith has been of the most talkative players in NFL history over the course of his 15-year NFL career. With that in mind, Mitchell paid little attention to Smith's comments saying that the Steelers safety is on his 'lifetime hit list' after Baltimore's win over Pittsburgh last Thursday.

Smith left the game with an injury and is questionable for the Ravens next game with micro fractures in his back suffered in Thursday night's game. After a strong start to the season that included 25 catches for 325 yards in Baltimore's first three games, Smith had to exit Thursday's night's game after getting hit in the back by Lawrence Timmons. The Ravens wide receiver said that Mitchell crowed at him after the hit, saying, “How do you like that?” as Smith lingered in pain on the field before exiting the game.

"The best thing I could do without threatening him and saying, 'I will assault him when I see him' is I will say, 'I look forward to playing him again, and he's on my lifetime hit list," Smith said after the game. "I got speared in my back by an ex-teammate. I kinda know his character and who he is."

(Photo: Ted Hyman, 247Sports)

Mitchell has since responded to his ex-teammate's remarks, saying it's a non-issue as Mitchell and the Steelers prepare to take on the Chargers on Monday night football.

“It is something that he tries to use to fuel himself,” Mitchell said. “It isn't even something I concern myself with. I didn't think of anything when I heard about it, and I don't think anything about it now. I am going to continue on and play football.

“If you look at my fine history, I am more of a helmet-to-helmet kind of guy,” Mitchell said in reference to his fines while playing for the Panthers in 2013. “I am not going to spear you. I wasn't even involved in the play.”

Mitchell, signed by the Steelers last season to start at free safety opposite Troy Polamalu, has enjoyed a solid season thus far after an up and down first season in Pittsburgh. He has 19 tackles after four games while forcing a fumble in Pittsburgh's Week 1 game against the Patriots. He also deflected passes against the 49ers and Ravens while making five tackles in the Steelers game against Baltimore.

The hard-hitting safety has been one of the reasons for the defense's success since their Week 1 loss to New England, as the unit has allowed an average of just 16 points a game over the past three weeks. Mitchell has quickly gained a rapport with strong safety Will Allen, who was inserted into the starting lineup this season over Shamarko Thomas.

On Monday, Mitchell and the Steelers defense will face one of the game's best quarterbacks in Philip Rivers, who has completed nearly 71 percent of his passes this season.

While Mitchell brushed off Smith's warnings of future retribution, it will certainly be something to watch for when the teams meet again in Baltimore on Dec. 27.