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Skills to trump sledges against SA: Smith

Australia captain promotes strong on-field presence among his players but downplays the verbals

 Australia captain Steve Smith has played down talk of the upcoming Test series against South Africa turning into a sledging battle, but insists he wants to see his side exert a stronger on-field presence than they did in their 3-0 series whitewash against Sri Lanka.

Desperate to bounce back from their disappointing tour of Sri Lanka, Australia kick off the Test summer at the WACA on November 3 against the Proteas.

The two sides’ last Test encounter in 2014 was a fiery affair, with injured South Africa captain AB de Villiers telling Fox Sports this week his side copped the “most abuse we've got on the cricket field” during the three-match series.

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But while Smith concedes “a bit of chat” on the field is to be expected this time around, he doesn’t want his charges to adopt an overly hostile approach as a reaction to their thrashing at the hands of Sri Lanka.

“The things I said about Sri Lanka were more about us having some more energy and presence in the field,” the 27-year-old told cricket.com.au. 

“It’s not about getting in their face and sledging them or that kind of thing. 

“It’s about making sure that our attitude’s right and that we have that presence out on the field so if we get a half chance that we’re in a frame of mind to be ready to take it. 

“I don’t think it’s anything about hostility and sledging as such.

“Each individual is different and I think aggressive means different things to different people. 

“Some people might need to get into a contest with a bowler verbally, others might just need to puff their chest out a little bit or just have really good body language out on the field.”

De Villiers’ claims about the 2014 series were emphatically denied by fast bowler Peter Siddle, who labelled Australia’s sledging on that tour as “tame” in comparison to previous Test sides to don the Baggy Green.

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And although Faf du Plessis, who will captain South Africa in Perth in de Villiers’ absence, likened the 2014 Australians to a “pack of wild dogs” at the time, he admitted on Tuesday he doesn’t expect on-field verbals to be the talking point on this three-Test tour.

"I have played against Australia now a lot of times and I think this (Australian) team is a little bit different than the team of old," du Plessis told reporters in Adelaide on Tuesday.

"The two of us play a similar brand of cricket now ... we more let the cricket do the talking.

"Sledging ... it's not as important these days. It's respecting the opposition and trying to win the game of cricket.”

It’s a forecast Smith largely agrees with. 

“I think I saw Faf say something like ‘skill is the most important thing’,” the Australia skipper said.

“There’s always going to be a bit of chat out on the field, that’s part of the game and part of being competitive. 

“Both sides are very competitive and love the rivalry of playing against one another.”

“It’s going to be a great series.”