Smith blocks out crowd 'white noise'

Steve Smith says the smattering of jeers that greeted his practice-match century against England were nothing but "white noise" and suggested he has another gear to reach in one-day cricket.

The former Australia captain fired another warning shot ahead of the World Cup and a reminder that he remains as dangerous as he was before his 12-month ban, stroking a chanceless 102-ball 116 in Australia's warm-up clash against England in Southampton.

Given he's in career-best physical fitness, it said plenty about how draining the knock was when he conceded he couldn't actually remember how he went out – a somewhat controversial caught-and-bowled call off the penultimate ball of Australia's innings.

Both he and David Warner were greeted by boos at various times during the day from the 11,540-strong Southampton crowd, though the hisses were largely drowned out by applause when Smith celebrated his hundred in subdued fashion.

Image Id: 754ADBC488AE400B8239602CDF629626 Image Caption: Smith salutes his ton v England // Getty

"I heard a few things as I went out to bat, but it didn't really get to me," said Smith after Australia's 12-run win. "I'm just trying to keep my head down and move straight ahead and just do my job.

"It doesn't bother me. It's just doing my job and I know that I've got the support of my teammates up on the balcony and that's the most important thing.

"If I can make them proud out in the middle and make Australians proud as much as I can – well that's my job.

"Fortunately today I was able to score a few runs for the team and more importantly spend some time in the middle before our first game of the World Cup."

Asked how it felt to be labelled a "cheat" following last year's Cape Town scandal, Smith added: "I just blank it out.

"They call it white noise. When I am out there I pay no attention to the crowd and just move on with playing the game."

After some up-and-down form during his year away from international cricket, Smith finds himself in supreme touch leading into Australia's first World Cup game against Afghanistan in Bristol next Saturday.

Admittedly he's only played warm-up games since returning to the national team after his 12-month ban, but his numbers are ominous – dismissed just twice in his last four hits, he now has 372 runs at 186 across those matches.

A jaw-dropping scoop shot for six and an exquisite on-drive were the highlights of the innings, which featured eight boundaries and three sixes, all told.

Smith admitted his one-day international form before he was rubbed out of the game was not as good as he would have liked.

While he was the No.1 Test batsman at the time of his suspension, he'd in fact failed to pass fifty in his previous seven ODI innings before that, while his last ODI century came in January 2017.

"I was actually a little bit disappointed with my one-day form probably the last 18 months," he said.

"It was nice to spend a bit of time out in the middle today and the practice games that we've had so far I have felt really good.

"I'm not reading too much into it, they're just practice games at the moment. Hopefully I can keep this form for the real stuff … I am feeling good, I'm feeling calm at the crease and hitting the right balls I want to the boundary."

Image Id: D60283A1C17244B0A0ED7F3ECCDBAB50 Image Caption: Smith hits out on his way to 116 from 102 balls // Getty

Given he has also been recovering from an elbow operation he underwent in January, question marks have lingered over how Smith would adapt back to international cricket physically.

While he's emphatically dismissed any notion that his recovery could affect his batting (or his bowling for that matter, having sent down a couple of overs without issue in Wednesday's match against West Indies), he said he's not quite at full capacity in the field yet.

"It's coming along pretty well," he said of his elbow. "I haven't been able to really test it yet throwing-wise.

"I'd say I'm probably at about 80 per cent throwing-wise. Hopefully it can progress a little bit further before the first game."

Image Id: 42830D7A1C894EB2BE5E5674F0FBBA97 Image Caption: Smith hit eight fours and three sixes // Getty

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

May 22: (warm-up) Australia beat West Indies by seven wickets

May 25: (warm-up) Australia beat England by 12 runs

May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton

June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE