logo
Steve Smith not thinking about Ashes as Australia prepare for World Test final

Steve Smith not thinking about Ashes as Australia prepare for World Test final

Leader Live09-06-2025
England have been vocal about their long-term planning being geared towards building a team capable of wresting the urn from Australia for the first time in a decade ahead of the 2025-26 series Down Under.
However, Smith is zoned in on this week's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, starting on Wednesday, before Australia head to the Caribbean for three Tests and five T20s.
'The Ashes is a big series but you also can't look too far ahead,' said Smith, winner of the Compton–Miller Medal for player of the Ashes series in 2017-18 and 2019.
'You've got to keep playing each game as it comes, every game is important with the World Test Championship on the line.
'That's the reason it came in: to make every Test more relevant. We go to the West Indies next week and we've got a series there, that'll be the next focus after this game.'
Australia's last Test visit to Lord's in the 2023 Ashes saw an extraordinary bust-up between a couple of players and Marylebone Cricket Club members, one of whom was expelled and two others suspended.
Asked about sort of reception he is anticipating from the members this time, Smith replied: 'Unsure, and I'm actually not fussed either way.'
Australia defeated India in the 2023 final and are overwhelming favourites to see off the Proteas, whose place at the showpiece has been questioned, including by former England captain Michael Vaughan.
Vaughan said they got there 'on the back of beating pretty much nobody', while ex-Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe likened their run to 'making the Wimbledon final without playing a seed along the way'.
South Africa played only a dozen Tests in the 2023-25 edition and did not have to face either England or Australia, although six successive wins saw them book their spot in the final with a match to spare.
Head coach Shukri Conrad said: 'I'm tired of speaking about it, we're here and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away World Test champions.
'Playing Australia, it doesn't get any bigger than that. What's gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute. We're quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them.
'We still hold Test cricket very dearly, our fixture list might not speak to that, but this is the biggest final all of our players have ever been involved in and their biggest match.'
Conrad and his coaching staff had dinner on Sunday evening with former England seamer Stuart Broad, who took 113 of his 604 Test wickets at Lord's and has more dismissals against Australia than anyone else.
Broad joined South Africa as a consultant at practice on Monday to pass on tips to the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen about dealing with the notorious slope at the home of cricket.
'It was just a casual chat and if I didn't call time at 10:30pm, I think he'd still be there chatting to us,' Conrad said.
'It was really enlightening, really casual and everybody walked away thinking 'that was great', Broady included.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Double golden joy as Australia's swimmers triumph at world championships
Double golden joy as Australia's swimmers triumph at world championships

The Guardian

time30 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Double golden joy as Australia's swimmers triumph at world championships

Australia ended the opening night of the swimming world championships with a dose of double golden joy after the country's men and women prevailed in the 4x100m freestyle relay events. There was heartbreak to begin the night after Australian Sam Short was pipped by 0.02 of a second by German world record holder Lukas Maertens in a thrilling 400m men's freestyle showdown in Singapore. But the relay events proved to be Australia's saviour, propelling them to the top of the standings. First, Olivia Wunsch pulled off a huge late comeback to fire Australia to an upset victory over the US in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. Then Kyle Chalmers achieved the same result for Australia's men, reeling in a sizeable lead from the US to snare gold. The Australian coaching staff celebrated wildly upon each victory. Australia entered Sunday night's 4x100m women's relay with a new-look team featuring Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Wunsch. The US were hot favourites to win, but Australia threw a spanner into the works by clawing their way into the lead by the time Wunsch dived into the water for the final leg. American Torri Huske quickly re-took the lead and held a half-length margin with 50m remaining before Woods came storming home to snatch victory. 'I definitely can't believe it,' Jansen told Channel 9. 'This is something that I wanted growing up. I was feeling very nervous coming into this, but it's just a dream come true.' Australia finished in a time of 3:30.60, with the US (3:31.04) in second. The Australian men followed suit, with the quartet of Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). 'I've kind of lost my voice already from cheering so hard,' Southam said. 'I'm just so happy to be here, and we all swam out of our skin, and we did it for the country, and we're so proud of ourselves.' Earlier, in the first medal event of the championships, Short overcame an early deficit to hit the lead with less than half the race remaining. The 21-year-old still led by a fingernail with 50m to go, and was neck-and-neck with Maertens right until the end. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Short, the 2023 world champion who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, couldn't hide his disappointment upon touching the wall and seeing he had lost by two hundredths of a second. Maertens, the Olympic champion, posted 3:42.35 to narrowly beat Short (3:42.37). South Korea's Kim Woomin finished third in 3:42.60. 'I won two years ago by 0.02 and today I just lost by 0.02,' Short said. 'I'm happy to be back on the podium after a hard last year. So, you know, I can't complain. 'I just want to dedicate that performance there to my auntie who passed away a couple weeks ago. As bad I was hurting there, it's nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer for 10 years. So I had to toughen up and get it done.' In a stacked women's 400m freestyle field, Australian Lani Pallister (3:58.87) produced a personal-best effort but it was only enough to finish fourth. Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh (3:56.26) blitzed the field to win gold, China's Li Bingjie surged late to finish second, while the legendary Katie Ledecky had to be content with bronze. Australia's 400m Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus didn't feature after deciding to skip the world championships to give herself a mental and physical breather.

‘I have something different' – new Celtic star Shin Yamada reveals traits that set him apart from Hoops hero Kyogo
‘I have something different' – new Celtic star Shin Yamada reveals traits that set him apart from Hoops hero Kyogo

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

‘I have something different' – new Celtic star Shin Yamada reveals traits that set him apart from Hoops hero Kyogo

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NEW Bhoy Shin Yamada believes he's quicker and stronger than ex-Celtic hero Kyogo Furuhashi. The £1.7million striker scored the winning spot-kick in a Como Cup shootout against Al-Ahli on Saturday night, after making his Hoops bow from the bench. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 3 Shin Yamada has revealed the traits that set him apart from Kyogo Furuhashi Credit: Getty 3 Furuhashi was a fan favourite at Parkhead but left for Rennes in January Credit: PA 3 Yamada hit the winning penalty in the Como Cup against Al-Ahli on his Celts debut Credit: Alamy And the Japanese ace says he's now determined to follow in his countryman's footsteps and become a massive fans' favourite. Yamada, 25, said: "I heard all the news about Kyogo scoring goals for Celtic. "As players, I would say some parts of our game is similar, maybe in front of goal especially. "However, I have something different which is speed and power. "With that, I hope to perform as well as him and contribute to Celtic. "I have speed at one-v-ones, I like to run behind the defenders, that is one of my strengths." Yamada's Hoops debut ended up being delayed until Saturday night. He was meant to play against Ajax in the first clash in the Como Cup on Thursday after being named as a substitute. But it was discovered at the last minute the club hadn't registered him with Uefa in time. It meant he only took part in the warm-up before being confined to the sidelines for the night. Celtic stsr warms up before pulling OUT of match minutes before KO The hitman's paperwork clearance finally came through, though, which allowed him to make a second-half appearance against Al-Ahli. Quick-footed Yamada almost made the perfect first impression with a bursting run and finish but saw the goal disallowed for a marginal offside. Then he stepped up in the shootout — after the 90 minutes ended deadlocked at 1-1 — to score the winning spot-kick for Brendan Rodgers' men. Yamada was pleased enough with his brief contribution, but believes he'll improve once he gets to know all his team-mates better. He added: "I am happy I took part in the game. "And of course, I am happy to have scored the winning penalty. "I thought I had scored in the second half but was offside, I wish I had the pass earlier. "But I have only come to the club for a week, so we need to understand each other's strengths better and have better connections. "I'm confident that part will come soon. "I am obviously a striker so personally my job is to score a lot of goals, and I know that's what I'm being asked to do at this club. "I need to demand from my team-mates that they give me a pass in certain moments. "That is a part of my game I need to improve with the team." Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page

Ian Wright names 'major favourite' for 2027 Women's World Cup after England win
Ian Wright names 'major favourite' for 2027 Women's World Cup after England win

Metro

time2 hours ago

  • Metro

Ian Wright names 'major favourite' for 2027 Women's World Cup after England win

Ian Wright picked out the USA as the biggest threat to England's hopes of winning the next World Cup after the Lionesses successfully defended their European Championship crown on Sunday evening. Sarina Wiegman's side were once again forced to come from behind after Mariona Caldentey broke the deadlock for Spain, the world champions, in the 25th minute of Sunday's nerve-shredding final in Basel. Just as they had done against Sweden and Italy previously, the Lionesses dug deep and found an equaliser, with Alessia Russo heading home Chloe Kelly's pinpoint cross to make it all square just before the hour-mark. The two teams could not be separated after extra-time and it was England who eventually prevailed after another dramatic shootout, with the contest ending 3-1 in favour of the holders. The Lionesses' latest triumph represents the first time in history that an English team have won a major tournament on foreign soil, three years on from the side's famous victory over Germany at Wembley. 'No, I can't believe it!' an emotional Wiegman told BBC Sport in the immediate aftermath of England's victory. 'We said we can win by any means and that's what we have shown again today. I am so proud of the team and the staff. It is incredible.' Asked if she was shocked to win the trophy for a second time on the trot, Wiegman replied: 'Yes, yes. 'I just can't believe it. I have a medal around my neck and we have a trophy. 'It has been the most chaotic tournament on the pitch – all the challenges we had on the pitch against our opponent. 'From the first game it was your first game and becoming European Champions is incredible. Football is chaos.' USA head coach Emma Hayes, who was on punditry duty for ITV, said she had greatly enjoyed watching England up close across the tournament and how they were being managed by Wiegman. And while the ex-Chelsea boss admitted she was looking forward to the 2027 World Cup, she was keen to stress that the USA's qualification was not a foregone conclusion. 'I'm an international manager and I get the opportunity to learn from two of the best teams in the world, not just in terms of how they play but also how they're being managed in all the things that come with tournament football,' Hayes said. 'I was English for 120 minutes, but these two to the right of me [Wright and Karen Carney] have abandoned me now that we're talking about 2027. 'Listen, I cannot wait for it but as we know, we have to qualify for these tournaments and the USA haven't qualified yet.' In response, legendary ex-England and Arsenal striker Wright insisted Hayes' USA side were the overwhelming favourites to lift the trophy in two years' time. 'They're the favourites, they're the ones to beat. They're so good, they're so good!' Wright said. 'If we get anywhere near them I'd be really happy because they're the ones, they're major favourites.' Despite their painful defeat, Wright is confident Spain will bounce back and be a 'problem' for opposition teams in 2027. 'You can't ignore France either, they seem to be really close,' Wright added. 'I don't know what's missing from them, but there's something missing from them. 'Spain as well, if you look from the forwards point of view, if they can get that centre-forward, because that's what they were missing today. 'If they can get that centre-forward to finish it off then Spain will be a problem. 'They need to do that in the next two years, they need to find that. It might be enough time, it might not. But if they do find that forward then Spain will be a problem.' Former England winger Karen Carney, meanwhile, feels Italy could be a dark horse for the World Cup after their 'exceptional' run to the semi-finals in Switzerland this summer. More Trending Asked if Italy could be in with a shot of the title, Carney replied: 'Yeah, I think they were exceptional. 'They're just developing, probably, a little too soon for them for this tournament. 'Every time there's a European Championship, there's a beacon and everyone is investing and getting better and stronger and every tournament we say that it's the most competitive. That's the levels. It keeps growing and growing and that's the way is should be. 2027 will be exceptional.' Are the USA the team to beat ahead of the World Cup? MORE: England warrior reveals she played whole of Euro 2025 with brutal injury MORE: Hannah Hampton was told she would never play football due to a serious eye condition MORE: Hannah Hampton reveals message Sarina Wiegman gave England players before shootout drama

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store