Smith queries England's all-out speed approach

Steve Smith has hinted England's pace battery could be the wrong form of attack for the Ashes, believing nibbling seamers would pose a bigger threat on Australia's lively pitches.

England have arrived for the summer with their quickest bowling line-up this century, with almost the entire cartel able to reach in excess of 145km/h.

Spearheaded by speedsters Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, the tourists also have Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse as support acts.

It's a far cry from England's usual attack in Australia, with the now-retired James Anderson and Stuart Broad long relying on swing and seam.

And despite the hype around England's quicks, Smith believes the tourists' timing could be off and a more traditional seamer would be tougher to face on current wickets.

"Those sort of nibblers can be quite tricky," Australia's stand-in captain said.

"So they might have got things the wrong way around, if that makes sense, in terms of the pace from previous years.

"But obviously they've got those guys at their disposal now. They probably weren't fit, ready or old enough a few years back."

Anderson and Broad are now aged 43 and 39. England had the option of picking Chris Woakes, but chose against it before he retired.

Smith joked this week that Australian wickets were now so green they "have branches hanging off them".

Asked directly if it was easier to face all-out pace than seamers on home decks, Smith indicated that was the case.

"If you can do both, that's a good skill," Smith said.

"But sometimes the slower guys are almost harder to play on those wickets where you have to make the pace.

"It's going to be different. But I think we've got plenty of players that play fast bowling well, and it's going to be a good challenge."

Smith's comments come after Mitchell Starc warned England that it would not be easy for the quicks to charge in all summer, given the harder surfaces in Australia.

Ian Botham and Brett Lee have urged the visitors to play both Wood and Archer in the first Test starting in Perth next Friday, despite concerns over the pair's historical fitness.

Smith will enter the series in form, with scores of 118, 57 and 56 not out in his three Sheffield Shield innings for NSW.

Fresh off a six-week break in New York ahead of the summer, Smith said almost upon landing back home he would need a few hits to find his rhythm.

That form is now undeniable, even if he briefly "lost his hands" while batting for the Blues in their 300-run drubbing to Victoria at the SCG.

"I felt awful my first 20 runs (on Wednesday)," Smith said.

"Lost my hands for a little bit there and then found them back after that, so that was good.

"It was more because I was changing bats, trying to figure out which one I like, to be honest. And they all felt a little bit different. I think I've settled on one, so it felt good.

"But it was nice to just be able to spend some time in the middle, get some rhythm and feel in a good place."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad: (First Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood