Our best too much for England: Smith

Only twice in history has Australia waited this long for an Ashes victory in England, but middle-order pair Steve Smith and Shane Watson believe the dam is set to burst this winter.

Smith, who broke a host of batting records during Australia’s Test summer against India and captained the side in the absence of an injured Michael Clarke, was bullish about the team’s prospects of bouncing back from a 3-0 defeat in 2013, a series in which he broke through for his maiden Test hundred.

“From my point of view I can’t wait to get over there and play another Ashes in their conditions,” the 25-year-old, who has averaged 73.22 across 15 Tests since that unbeaten 138 at The Oval, told ESPN.

“After beating them so convincingly in Australia it’s going to be nice to go into their backyard and if we continue to play the same way we’ve played over the last 12-18 months, I don’t think they’ll come close to us to be honest.”

Australia’s last Ashes success in the Motherland came in 2001, with the XI from the final Test of that series one of the greatest to don the Baggy Green: Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath.

Four years later, a similar squad minus the Waugh twins was beaten in an epic series that saw the debut of enigmatic Englishman Kevin Pietersen and the best of influential allrounder Andrew Flintoff.

In 2009, a rebuilding Australia side lost the final Test at The Oval to hand back the urn after claiming a five-nil victory on home turf only two years earlier, while in 2013, the Clarke-led team were beaten 3-0 and reached their nadir in the second Test at Lord’s; an innings defeat that made it six Test losses on the trot for the first time since 1984.

Since, a dramatic reversal in fortunes resulted in another Australian Ashes whitewash in 2013-14, led by a rejuvenated Mitchell Johnson, while the rise of Smith and David Warner as genuine world-class batsmen in that time has also strengthened Clarke’s side.

“We’ve got a very strong squad that’s going over to England, we’ve got depth through all aspects of our game,” Watson said.

“Also, the best part is everyone’s in nearly career-best form at the moment which is most important.

“And there’s a huge hunger within the group because we know we haven’t won over in England for the last three series.

“I’ve been involved in two of those, so there’s a burning desire inside of me to be involved in an Ashes-winning campaign over in England as well.

“We’re as well prepared as we possibly can be within our group. I’m incredibly excited about what’s on the horizon with the Ashes and I know everyone else is as well, so I just have to get there – there’s still a little bit to go with the IPL here and the West Indies as well.”

The only other occasions Australia’s winless period in England has stretched as long as this were from 1884-99 and 1975-89, meaning defeat this winter would ensure the longest time without an away Ashes success.

“We completely understand that it is going to be an extremely difficult tour, which we do expect to win,” Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager of Team Performance Pat Howard told cricket.com.au last week. 

“We go into every series expecting that we are going to win but anybody talking about cakewalks or that sort of one-sided affair is pretty naïve to touring these days.

“We know how hard it is going to be.

“If we play our best we will win but if we do anything that is even slightly sub-par it will be an extremely tight, competitive series.”